Carbon Emissions Of The 2022 Leilani Wildfire In Waikōloa, Hawaiʻi

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Mantanona, Caleb abstract.pdf (92.35 KB)

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2023

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Saksena, Sumeet Sy, Angela

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Oceanography
Global Environmental Science

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Abstract

Wildfires are a natural component in complex Earth systems yet changes to local fire regimes can affect the trajectory of carbon emission trends. In 2022, Waikōloa in Hawaiʻi island had a large wildfire that occurred from mid-July to mid-August, referred to as the Leilani wildfire. The aim of this study was to estimate the carbon emissions of the wildfire using a bottom-up approach. Sentinel-2 satellite imagery was referenced and estimated the Leilani wildfire to have burned 57.57 km2, inclusive of 5 vegetation classes including dry shrubland (76.6 percent), sparse vegetation (16.74 percent), dry forest (4.02 percent), grasslands (2.3 percent), and developed lands (0.28 percent). The resulting emissions are estimated to range from 0.0104 TgC (0.0393 TgCO2 -eq.) to 0.0107 TgC (0.0449 TgCO2 -eq) in a “Moderate” to “Very low” moisture scenario, respectively. Compared to Hawaiʻi wildfire emissions from 2002 to 2011, the Leilani wildfire comprised 38 percent of annual average TgC emissions and 42 percent of annual average TgCO2 -eq. This study highlights the importance of continual effort of fire and land management to maintain terrestrial carbon stocks. Further studies should continue monitoring Hawaiian wildfires and build databases of pre-fire biomasses

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wildfire, carbon, Hawaiʻi, emissions, vegetation

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https://hdl.handle.net/10125/107624

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2

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All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.

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Mantanona, Caleb

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Global Environmental Science Theses
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