Call for Papers – Wildfires: From Risk Assessment to Recovery

EarthzineOriginal, Wildfires Theme

Improving our understanding and management of wildfires, from their causes to the effects on humans and the environment

Download Call for Papers PDF here.pdf_logo
2013 Quarterly Theme Issue 3
June 21-Sept. 22, 2013

Earthzine.org is soliciting articles from all regions of the globe for its third quarter 2013 theme on Wildfires. The number, size, and severity of harmful wildfires have been rising in recent decades, due to the interplay of environmental and societal changes. This has prompted greater attention and investment to expand human, institutional, and Earth Observation capabilities to better prevent, respond to and minimize detrimental effects of wildfires on life and living conditions.
We seek articles that use in situ, airborne, and spaceborne observations that contribute to our understanding of wildfires across all scales, from their causes to consequences, including use in planning, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery from these hazards.
Earthzine.org is an informative scientific online journal dedicated to promoting the societal benefits of Earth Observations and the use of Earth information in planning and policy. Sponsored by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers), Earthzine supports the Group on Earth Observations in establishing the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. Earthzine seeks to explore the application of scientific and technological research as well as policy and its implementation for the benefit of society.
Specific topics of interest include:

• Earth observation (EO) approaches for prediction, rapid detection, and early warning of wildfires
• Value and contribution of EO for planning, mitigation, and suppression of wildfires
• Observation systems for characterizing land use and vegetation cover, fuel status, weather conditions, fire severity, fire spread, and smoke dispersion
• Fire Information Systems underpinned by Geographic Information and EO data and Open Geospatial Consortium Web services
• Use of remote sensing technologies (optical and radar satellite data, LiDAR, etc.) for pre-and post-wildfire assessment and response support, including rapid mapping
• Methodological and technical issues related to using EO systems as well as ground-based modeling for wildfire, including real-time data collection, access and sharing
• Recent tools and methods as well as applications and case studies using EO for production of Wildfire Risk Indices and for modeling and characterization of risk, hazard, and vulnerability to these fires
• Use of EO for dynamic wildfire monitoring and mitigation efforts
• Characterization of evolution of wildfires and spatio-temporal patterns
• Identifying gaps, challenges, and additional requirements in observation for wildfire management
• Initiatives and training programs that support the transfer of recent advances in wildfire observation and mitigation into wildfire management organizations.

We invite you to submit an article and become part of a growing, professionally diverse community and global readership network working to build the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). We welcome articles about programs, projects, organizations, examples of interdisciplinary and/or cross-regional research, latest discoveries, and unusual findings. We also publish opinion essays, book reviews and art reviews. Submissions must be in English. Submit inquiries and articles to Guest Editors via wildfires@earthzine.org.
Important dates: Queries to the editors may be sent at any time. Submissions of original articles, letters, opinions, book and art for review will be accepted until Sept. 1, 2013.
Publication: All accepted contributions will undergo review by subject-matter experts, be published online at earthzine.org in the third quarter of 2013, and be freely accessible to the public. Earthzine does not charge authors for publishing.
More Information:
Writer Guidelines: earthzine.org/writers-guidelines
Reviewer Guidelines: earthzine.org/about/reviewer-guidelines/
GEO/GEOSS website: www.earthobservations.org
Guest Editor for Wildfires
Sérgio Freire, Earthzine associate editor for Disasters
sfreire@fcsh.unl.pt
e-GEO, FCSH
Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal
Guest Editor for Wildfires
Domingos Xavier Viegas
xavier.viegas@dem.uc.pt
Forest Fire Research Center
ADAI, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Guest Editor for Wildfires
Christoph Aubrecht, Earthzine senior adviser
christoph.aubrecht@earthzine.org
Foresight & Policy Development
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria
Editor-in-Chief
Paul E. Racette
editor@earthzine.org
Managing Editor
Jeff Kart
jkart@earthzine.org
Deputy Editor
Daniel McInerney
dmcinerney@earthzine.org