ujjwalks96/Wildfire-Dynamics-SouthEastAfrica
Domain:
environment and energygeospatialRecord type:
project
Creator:
ujj
Host:
Decadal wildfire, atmospheric emissions and forest cover loss analysis for Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique using MODIS MCD64A1, Sentinel-5P TROPOMI and Hansen GFC via Google Earth Engine
# Wildfire Dynamics, Atmospheric Emissions and Forest Cover Loss in Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique
## A Decadal Multi-Source Remote Sensing Analysis (2015-2024)
Study Area: Zambia - Tanzania - Malawi - Mozambique
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Period: 2015-2024 (Fire, Atmosphere) ; 2015-2023 (Forest)
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Platform: Google Earth Engine + Python
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## 1. About This Project
This repository presents an integrated, reproducible remote sensing workflow that quantifies **wildfire seasonality**, **biomass burning atmospheric emissions**, and **forest cover loss** across four fire-active nations of southern-eastern Africa : Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique over a decade of satellite observations.
The analysis fuses three independently validated satellite data streams:
- **MODIS MCD64A1**: 500m monthly burned area (2015–2024, 120 months)
- **Sentinel-5P TROPOMI** : CO, NO₂ and Absorbing Aerosol Index (2018–2024, 84 months)
- **Hansen Global Forest Change v1.11**: Annual 30m forest loss (2015–2023)
All data acquisition, analysis, visualisation, and interactive mapping are implemented in a single Google Colab notebook using the GEE Python API.
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## 2. Key Statistics at a Glance
| Metric | Value |
|--------|-------|
| **10-year total burned area** | 5,920,370 km² (all 4 countries) |
| **Annual mean burned area** | 592,037 km²/year |
| **Peak fire month** | September : 165,000 km²/month average |
| **Core fire season** | July - October (>85% of annual burned area) |
| **CO-fire correlation** | r = −0.70 to −0.82 (Sentinel-5P vs MODIS) |
| **Cumulative forest loss** | 64,374 km² (2015–2023, all 4 countries) |
| **Highest forest loss** | Mozambique: 25,153 km² absolute |
| **Highest proportional loss** | Malawi: up to 1.22%/year of 2000 forest area |
| **Forest trend** | Rising OLS trend in all 4 countries |
| **Fire-forest nexus** | r = −0.84 (Zambia), −0.81 (Tanzania), −0. …