New publication about forest fire in Saxon Switzerland

In a new publication, we have investigated the role of previous beetle disturbance and deadwood in the large forest fire in Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland in 2022 using satellite observations.

The fire started on July 24, 2022 at the border between Germany 🇩🇪 and the Czech Republic 🇨🇿 and burned until mid-August 2022, burning 1060 ha in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park (Czech Republic) and 113 ha in the Saxon Switzerland National Park (Germany).

Based on satellite data and forestry maps, we mapped the fuel types present in the region of the two inter-national parks before the fire. For this purpose, we extended the European classification scheme from the FirEUrisk project with a new class for spruce stands disturbed by bark beetles.

We found that the majority of the burned area was in stands that were affected by bark beetle infestation between 2017 and 2021. The fire also affected vegetation on rock formations (pines, blueberries, heather) as well as beech, pine and other forest species.

Fire intensity (i.e. fire radiation power, FRP) showed a large variation but with the highest intensities in previously disturbed stands. In forest stands with previous bark beetle infestations, there was more intense burning and a higher charcoal height. Canopy mortality and loss of foliage cover in these stands did not occur because the canopy was already missing before the fire.

The 2022 fire in the Saxon Switzerland and Bohemian Switzerland National Parks was caused by arson, strong winds and dry fuel. Dead wood had a high fire intensity. The fire highlights the need for better cross-border management of forest fires in Central Europe.

The publication is based on the Master's thesis of Kristina Beetz, who carried out initial surveys of fire severity in the field immediately after the forest fire in September 2022 and analyzed the remote sensing data. Following her master's thesis, Kristina worked with us for a few months before moving to the Finnish company ICEYE, where she now carries out remote sensing analyses for disaster monitoring. We would like to thank Kristina for her dedicated work and wish her all the best for the future!

Beetz, K., Marrs, C., Busse, A., Poděbradská, M., Kinalczyk, D., Kranz, J., and Forkel, M. (2024).
Effects of bark beetle disturbance and fuel types on fire radiative power and burn severity in the Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland
Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, cpae024, https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpae024