Against Climate Change (DACC): improving the estimates of forest fire smoke emissions
Not stated
- Location
- Southampton, United Kingdom
- Funding
- Fully funded; UKRI standard levels, including recent cost of living increase
- Application deadline
- See university guidance
About the project
The goal of the DACC project is to improve the monitoring of wildfires and the estimate of their emissions using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), with a focus on the Amazon region.
Uncontrolled wildfires destroy vegetation and wildlife habitats, produce CO2 and other harmful emissions in vast quantities, and are a hazard to human health. In the Amazon and several other regions, anthropogenic activities and climate change are increasing the scale, intensity and frequency of fire activity, fuelling a harmful feedback loop.
Satellite observations are vital for monitoring wildfires and estimating their impact in terms of fuel consumption and smoke emissions. However, satellite systems are constrained by cloud cover and their spatial and temporal resolutions: geostationary satellites acquire imagery every 10-15 minutes but have a resolution of 2-4 km; polar-orbit satellites have higher spatial resolution (200-1000 m) but provide data every 6-12 hours.
Consequently, small/low intensity and/or short-lived fires, as well as fires burning below clouds are not detected and thereby underestimating the extent of fire activity. Moreover, emission measurements currently rely on coarse resolution biomass (fuel load) estimates in fire affected areas and, combined, these effects result in relatively large uncertainty of regional smoke emissions.
For full project details visit the Inspire project page .
Supervisors
- Dr Mario Ferraro (University of Southampton)
- Professor Blair Thornton (University of Southampton)
- Dr Gareth Roberts (University of Southampton)
Dr Gareth Roberts
- Development of methods for monitoring landscape fire activity using optical and thermal Earth Observation data and using these data to estimate fire emissions
- Quantifying the environmental and health impacts of landscape fires using burned area and thermal anomalies data
- Validating active fire and Fire Radiative Power retrievals using measurements and models
Entry requirements
A 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent , in one of these subjects:
- any numerate discipline
- engineering
Fees and funding
INSPIRE studentships are funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, part of UK Research and Innovation, UKRI). The stipend is in line with UKRI standard levels, including the recent cost of living increase.
All studentships are fully funded for 3.5 years.
How to apply
To make an application, visit the how to apply section of the INSPIRE website .
Contact us
For questions about the project, contact Dr Mario Ferraro.
Email: M.Ferraro@soton.ac.uk
For questions about the application process, contact the graduate school office.
Email: gsnocs@soton.ac.uk