Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) had the pleasure to host the 2nd Wildfire Shared Arctic Variable SAV Finnish workshop in March 2023 where we continued to co-develop possible SAVs under the theme Wildfire. The aim was to expand the work carried out in the first Expert panel meeting held last fall, and to bring in new experts with indigenous, local and global points of views. The key focus was to discuss the information sources and needs related to the topic. We had a great variety of participants from SOGSAKK, SYKE, Finnish forest agency Metsähallitus, Arbonaut, University of Eastern Finland, SámiSoster, Lapland rescue services, FMI, Emergenssi Ltd, HAMK, Municipality of Utsjoki, AVI, Ministry of the Interior Department rescue services and Forest Centre.
Mika Aromäki and Janne Näkkäläjärvi.Jussi Hannukari.Photos: Saara Lilja
During the day, we heard conversation-opening talks, had discussions in smaller groups to ensure everyone’s voice was heard, and shared the groups ideas in a joint debate. Janne Näkkäläjärvi and Mika Aromäki from SOGSAKK talked about the role of education in sharing know-how of fire handling, and the challenges and loss reindeer husbandry is facing due to wildfires, among other natural sources of livelihood. Jussi Hannukari from Lapland rescue service discussed the importance of regional preparedness and the challenge of sufficient resources in wildfire operations. He reminded us that wildfires and their effects can cross-borders, therefore developing co-operation is essential.
The proposed Wildfire theme SAVs from the first Expert panel meeting were introduced and further developed: ignition and fire prone areas were identified as key variables. Available information sources were discussed, for example Janne Kotro (FMI) showed how satellites observations can be utilized with example images from Kalajoki 2021 wildfire, and Juha Aalto (FMI) opened discussion on how microclimate information could be useful in Arctic wildfire preparedness.
In the afternoon, the conversations were continued in smaller groups with key questions: What information is available for Arctic wildfire preparedness? Who gathers and processes information? How to act in changing climate? Afterwards, groups insights were linked with the SAVs. Throughout the day, we had fruitful discussions and we thank warmly all the participants! Stay tuned, in April 2023 the work continues within our international Wildfire SAV workshop, organized in Helsinki.
Schematic drawing of Wildfire theme SAVs elements based on workshop discussions. Credit: Mikko Strahlendorff.
Wildfire SAV is being developed in Arctic PASSION together with Arctic wildfire preparedness project which supports the local efforts in Finland.
The 2022 Arctic Circle Assembly was held in Reykjavík, Iceland on 13-16 October with a record 2,000 participants from almost 70 countries and regions. With over 600 speakers, the sessions covered Arctic issues, changes due to the climate crisis, clean energy and many other relevant topics. The phrase “what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic” was often heard during the Assembly, referring to the global scale impacts of Arctic climate change.
What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic
The Permafrost Shared Arctic Variable meeting. Photo: Mikko Strahlendorff
The Wildfire SAV theme session included an overview about Arctic wildfires, a talk from Delvin Fernandes from Gwich’in Council International, and introduction to Arctic PASSION work on Pilot Service 4 on PS4: ‘Integrated Fire Risk Management (INFRA)’ Service. Additionally, the Finnish Arctic wildfire preparedness project shared their experience on their Wildfire SAV expert panel initiation workshop, and what was learned and achieved during the discussions. The Finnish Wildfire SAV workhop received many praises and inspired enthusiasm, with future merging of other local Wildfire SAV initiation expert panels discussed.
Mikko Strahlendorff and Heïdi Sevestre at the Wildfire SAV session. Photos: Lisa Grosfeld
The Arctic Circle Assembly 2022 was a great event with many interesting and inspiring talks, meetings and exhibitions. We thank all the speakers and organizers and look forward to the next years Assembly!
The EU project Arctic PASSION comes from the words: Pan-Arctic observing System of Systems: Implementing Observations for societal Needs. It will develop eight new amazing EuroGEO Pilot Services. Those are focused on the themes: ‘Event Database of CBM Using Oral Histories, IK and LK’, ‘Permafrost’, ‘State of the Arctic Environment’, ‘Integrated Fire Risk Management’, ‘Local Atmospheric Pollutant Forecast’, ‘Improving Safety for Shipping in the Polar Seas’, ‘CBM for Arctic marine climate change, noise pollution & impacts on marine living resources’ and ‘Lake Ice Service for Arctic Climate and Safety’.
The Pilot Services will be user-driven and co-created with local and Indigenous Peoples, scientific, policy and decision maker communities as well as private and public sectors.
Event Database of CBM (Community Based Monitoring) Using Oral Histories, IK (Indigenous Knowledge) and LK (Local Knowledge)
Knowledge on environmental change will be gathered in seven regions by combining Indigenous Knowledge, Local Knowledge and science. In addition, there will be a so called Event Database, a database of socio-ecological relevant Events. The focus will be on ecosystem changes of significance. Information will be gained by gathering information through workshops, interviews, Indigenous documentation, art and paintings etc. These observations will be compared to scientific observations to understand more about the events and to evaluate if it is possible to jointly reconstruct key events.
Pan-Arcticrequirements driven Permafrost Service
This service will report on permafrost temperature and surface/active layer changes related to permafrost thaw. Landsat and Sentinel-2 timeseries data will be used to provide near real time maps of surface changes related to abrupt permafrost thaw disturbances. The best practices for GTN-P (Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost) observations will be established as well as the first global measurement standards for the permafrost ECV (Essential Climate Variable).
State of the Arctic Environment Service
This service will give information about the state of the Arctic environment and climate system on a one-stop website. It will provide both already existing and new data, covering atmosphere, land, ocean and cryosphere and utilize data both from remote sensing and in situ observations. The users will be able to better understand the status of key environmental indicators and their trends. The selected data will be visualized in maps and as timeseries.
Integrated Fire Risk Management (INFRA) Service
In the summer of 2021, there were record emissions in Russia that were caused by severe wildfires. More than 10 million hectares were burned. The CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) data can be used to monitor emissions in the atmosphere from for example wildfires and volcanoes. It is possible to get information about the number of fires, the size of the areas, the intensity of the fires and their persistence. With Copernicus Sentinel-3 imagery it has been possible to see for example the burn scare of the largest fire, that lasted from the end of June until the mid-August (see https://www.copernicus.eu/en/media/image-day-gallery/severe-wildfires-caused-record-emissions-russia-during-summer-2021 ).
Credit: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-3 imagery
The Arctic Passion Integrated Fire Risk Management (INFRA) service will improve the response to wildfires in the Arctic. There will be a web-based system to support fire management. It includes a risk map, combination of ground and satellite-based information for early identification of fires and short-term evolution maps of fire events. The service will combine near real time ground-based information to weather forecast and satellite products, make risk maps and forecasts, both observations and models will be used to get information about short-term development and propagation of wildfire. In addition, a platform for emergency management will be made. It will enable risk analysis and emergency management and will be tested in real operational conditions during fire season in selected areas.
Local Atmospheric Pollutant Forecast Service
This service will improve forecasts of anthropogenic and natural causes of air pollution. It will link air pollution in situ observations to large-scale atmospheric fields to inform on airborne pollution impacts. Model forecasts will be combined with local observations of atmospheric pollution improving the local short-term forecasts. There will be information about short-term high particulate levels included. The forecasts are provided as visual diagnostics that show temporal evolution and forecast of air pollution at different Arctic stations (observed vs. forecasted) and local forecasts from large-scale dynamic models vs. those combined with local observations leading to more precise forecasts than before.
Improving Safety for Shipping in the Polar Seas Service
This will be an operational service that will better quantify risk for vessels that are navigating in ice-covered waters. It combines information from the vessel’s automatic identification system (AIS), ice class and other characteristics of the vessel, ice charts, sea ice information products and satellite images. There will be a POLARIS risk index outcome (RIO) score provided in near real time that will estimate the operational limitations of vessels in the local ice conditions. Historical data analysis will show trends in vessel operations and how sea ice driven changes are linked to RIO scores. The service will provide forecasts that give predicted RIO scores for tactical and strategic use in ship-routing and safety decisions.
CBM for Arctic marine climate change, noise pollution & impacts on marine living resources
This service will support food security, building local capacity, sustainability and decision making in Greenland coastal communities. It will monitor the marine climate and noisescape in coastal zones. There will be 2-4 sites equipped and maintained in order to get information about the presence of marine mammals and marine climate and noisescape in Arctic marine waters. Sound recording and oceanographic sensors will be used. Training will be given to local youth to use instruments and handle data and a visual integrated atlas of annual sound recordings and marine activities will be set up.
Lake Ice Service for Arctic Climate and Safety
This service provides near real time information about the ice conditions of freshwater lakes. This information is important for example for understanding ice-related changes and climate change. Lake ice is sensitive to intra-annual temperature fluctuations and long-term temperature trends. Importantly, lake ice affects water quality, the lake ecology and local weather by reducing the energy exchange between water and the atmosphere. Information about lake ice is also significant in terms of safety issues. As cloud cover obscures the visibility of optical sensors to ground, there is an urgent need to develop an observing system for lake ice that combines the in situ and Earth Observation (EO) information. The Lake Ice Service is meant to fill this gap by providing EO and in situ data (Community Based Monitoring and governmental observation networks) in an easy-to-access and simple format. This will improve the quality of the Copernicus Lake Ice Extent products. The Lake Ice Service is implemented in SYKE’s TARKKA+ service, which is a highly customizable web application framework for visualizing spatiotemporal data both on map and as statistical timeseries.
A screenshot of TARKKA+ presenting Lake ice extent of Northern Europe and true color images.
Other interesting pilots from another project
As climate is changing, permafrost thaw could have impact on water flows. An interesting pilot, Hydropower in snow reservoir– climate service, that increases information related to the Arctic, has been developed recently in the E-shape project. Below, are some details of the pilot.
Eshape pilot Hydropower in snow reservoir – climate service (Kemijoki)
Hydropower companies are using forecasts of reservoir inflow and energy prices to schedule the timing and quantity of releases for daily, weekly and seasonal operations. In E-Shape project, there is a pilot called Hydropower in snow reservoir – climate service. It tries to find ways how the reliability of the forecasts can be improved. Uncertainties in hydrological model snowpack simulation can be reduced by using EO based snow observations. The observations (snow depth data) from Sentinel satellites are used to provide basin wide information about the state of the snowpack in higher resolution. EO based snow water equivalent data is used to assess uncertainties of the model forecast. In addition, webcam snow monitoring can be used. The forecast component will be added to the HOPS (Hydrological Operations and Predictions System) model that is driven by C3S seasonal forecast. See https://e-shape.eu/index.php/showcases/pilot7-4-hydropower-in-snow-reservoir-climate-service or https://hops.fmi.fi/ .
Example of another pilot is HarvesterSeasons that can increase a lot of information related to the Arctic, also about forest fire index. Below, are some details about HarvesterSeasons.
HarvesterSeasons
HarvesterSeasons is a new mobile and web application that helps to manage harvesting in Finland. It is developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and two stakeholders from forest industry; Metsäteho and Metsä Group. It gives important information about soil conditions and highlights good or bad conditions for vehicles to traverse specific terrains (trafficability). It combines information from weather forecasts, satellite measurements and a hydrological model. The monthly seasonal forecast data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) is used. The application supports the planning of forestry operations by providing several layers, including soil wetness, soil temperature, snow thickness, tree cover percent in 2018 and forest fire index. The seasonal forecasts will help to predict how soil conditions will change over six or seven months ahead. The soil and snow condition model outputs are shown as simple trafficability information.
In September 2022, a group of experts with diverse backgrounds got together to share their knowledge and insights in co-creation of Wildfire Shared Arctic Variable (SAV). This first expert panel meeting took place in Arctic Space Centre in Sodankylä, Finland with workshop participants Janne Näkkäläjärvi , Jussi Hannukari, Mika Aromäki, Timo Ryyppö, Anni Kröger, Mikko Strahlendorff and Saara Lilja. The main goal of the meeting was to initiate the discussion about the theme Wildfire SAV with indigenous and local points of views. Wildfire SAV is being developed in Arctic PASSION together with Arctic wildfire preparedness project which supports the local efforts in Finland.
Janne Näkkäläjärvi: Reindeer herder, Sámi Development manager in Sámi Education Institute, Enontekiö) Saara Lilja: PhD. expert in arctic resilience cocreation and networking, Emergenssi Ltd.) Mika Aromäki: Expert in reindeer husbandry and the Sámi people, teacher, forester, in Sámi Education Institute Timo Ryyppö: PhD. Satellite data Group leader, Finnish Meteorological Institute Jussi Hannukari: Fire chief of Eastern rescue area, health and safety representative, Lapland rescue service Anni Kröger: Early Career Researcher, Finnish Meteorological Institute Mikko Strahlendorff: Space Adviser, Finnish Meteorological Institute
Shared Arctic Variables are co-defined taking into account global, regional, indigenous and local voices and interests, hence the ”shared” in their name. Ideally the point is to share knowledge and identify gaps and needs, from all mentioned perspectives, to better our understanding of variety of Arctic themes ranging f.ex. from Wildfire to Sea Ice and Permafrost. The figure below illustrates the guiding principles for SAV, highlighting the equal input of Arctic Indigenous communities (red), regional and local stakeholders (blue), and global networks (green).
In Finland’s two-day SAV workshop, to kick-off discussion, every panelist answered the key question from their standpoint: Where does the Sàmi community/Sodankylä municipality/Climate change modelling collide with wildfire? Based on that, the SAV process was continued with determining the main themes under Wildfire SAV. The key issues were where wildfire occurs and what kind of knowledge is important about the fuel: ignition place, soil moisture, prescribed burning and important infrastructure or nature that is not allowed to burn (”where burning is forbidden”).
During the SAV process, trust, dialogue and common language were raised as important starting points and pillars of successful discussion. Finland’s SAV meeting was held in Finnish, a common language to all the participants. Many interesting related topics were talked about, including for example a project led by the Sámi Education Institute called Dialogues and Encounters in the Arctic which purpose is to initiate dialogue between the Arctic Indigenous peoples and researchers on challenges affecting the Arctic. The first expert panel meeting was inspiring and we are looking forward to continuing this work in the future meetings!
Climate change is likely to increase extreme fire weather at the northern high latitudes and the risk, frequency and severity of Arctic wildfires.
Estimated total annual carbon emissions from Arctic wildfires.
Wildfires release significant amounts of pollution into the atmosphere with, for example, a total estimate of 16 million tonnes of carbon emissions from Arctic wildfires in 2021. These were the fourth-highest emissions in the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service’s (CAMS) 18-year Global Fire Assimilation System GFAS dataset dating back to 2003. The record activity for Arctic wildfires in 2020 with estimated 58 million tonnes of carbon emitted shows how severe effect Arctic wildfires can potentially have in the future. To compare, in 2020 Finland’s total annual carbon emissions were around 40 million tonnes.
Soil moisture anomalies and wildfire locations in June-August 2021.
The figure above shows the locations of 2021 Arctic wildfire activity in June-August season with drier-than-average/wetter-than average soil conditions (reference period 1991-2020), where the most intense wildfires occur mostly in areas with drier soils. Smoke from wildfires can reach areas thousands of kilometers from the source fire, affecting air quality in larger regions. In summer 2021, the smoke released by wildfires in eastern Siberia was transported over large distances in the Arctic, as can be seen in the figures below.
Model forecast highlighting transport of the smoke released by wildfires in the main fire region (black line).
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report (IPCC AR6) Working Group 2, ”widespread, pervasive impacts to ecosystems, people, settlements, and infrastructure have resulted from observed increases in the frequency and intensity of climate and weather extremes”, including fire weather. Arctic wildfires threaten especially Indigenous and other Arctic communities whose livelihood depends on the nature. Understanding, monitoring and predicting future Arctic wildfires is important for fire management, infrastructure planning, local communities and ecosystems.
In Arctic PASSION (Pan-Arctic Observing System of Systems) project one focus point is Arctic wildfires. Example actions within Arctic PASSION are developing Integrated Fire Risk Management (INFRA) Pilot Service and co-defining Shared Arctic Variable (SAV) Wildfire with an expert panel of global, regional, indigenous and local voices and interests. In September 2022, an expert panel from Finland is gathering together to discuss Wildfire SAV and will later share their results with wider user groups in Arctic Circle Assembly 2022. News on Finland’s Wildfire SAV gathering will be posted here in October.
The new project called Arctic PASSION has started. It comes from the words: Pan-Arctic observing System of Systems: Implementing Observations for societal Needs. The consortium consists of 35 partners from 17 different countries. In addition, there are indigenous communities and a huge number of collaborating partners involved.
The objective of the project is to integrate and improve existing Arctic observing system elements and to co-create a pan-Arctic Observing System of Systems, that is more integrated and coherent. It will work on knowledge also from indigenous and local communities to respectfully combine it with science data. The project will enhance and integrate Arctic observations and improve Arctic data management. It also aims to simplify access to Arctic data. It will develop Shared Arctic Variables (SAVs) and the “Arctic window of Copernicus” and deliver new EuroGEO pilot services that address end-user needs. The societal benefits will be estimated, and decision makers will be supported. In addition, the project will enhance international collaboration and clustering.
In addition, one of the objectives is to lift Arctic GEOSS in GEO from community activity to GEO initiative and lets start with it by revitalizing this site with some exciting news about what is happening in the project – posted here.
The spill has happened from the white round containers grouped on the bottom of this large zoom of the river Ambarnaya flowing from the bottom left corner towards the lake on the top.
The precise diesel images are already nicely captured by ESA:
But here are images grabbed from CreoDias. First the still clean green tinted stretch close to the Pyasino lake outflow to the top of the image of this small river that opens up to two paths in this image from the 23rd May. There is still some lake ice on the small ponds around the river.
Clean Ambarnaya river
Next the stretch is visible on 31st May with diesel visible.
diesel on river Ambarnaya
And finally the diesel has progressed further towards the lake on 1st June. The image is just from the border of the satellite swath.
Let’s hope the diesel can be stopped before entering the lake! If you want to investigate yourself, try this link to CreoDias browser. You can play around with different channels and make their weight change in the script.
UPDATE: Planet released a very clear looking image of the extent of the oil spilled. Many small water ponds south-east of the river that flows from the collapsed tank have red content clearly visible.
Image was originally posted in this post: https://www.planet.com/pulse/clashing-eastern-superpowers-explosions-in-the-middle-east-dark-fishing-fleets-and-more/
Blog / Candice Pedersen & Sarah Rosengard / November 28, 2019
This
fall has been a busy time for everyone in the Arctic Eider Society, as
we have been preparing for the highly anticipated, official launch of
the Indigenous Knowledge Social Network, SIKU.org, this December.
This platform started as a prototype back in 2015 as a joint
initiative by community members of Sanikiluaq, Inukjuak, Umiujaq,
Kuujjaraapik and Chisasibi. Today, it exists as a website and app for all Inuit communities
to access cutting-edge weather, ice and ocean maps, and a safe space
for sharing Inuit knowledge about ice, wildlife, travel safety and
hunting. Any user can obtain weather forecasts and satellite imagery of
ice conditions without having to find the individual web sources
separately.
While people were already using Facebook to share hunting stories,
these collaborators envisioned a social media platform that archived
indigenous knowledge, but unlike a Facebook page, allowed all users to
retain the rights to their knowledge. Since then, SIKU has grown into
that very platform.
In particular, SIKU brings in Sentinel 1 Radar imagery, critical to
assessing ice conditions during the dark winter months or through
clouds, Sentinel 2 visual imagery, MODIS, and other imagery as well as
derived products that dynamically process Sentinel 1 to assess ice
roughness. Most importantly, reports about dangerous ice conditions by
local hunters can be made with the app putting Inuit knowledge and
observations front and center with weather and remote sensing products.
Created by Inuit for Inuit, SIKU.org
continuously evolves as more communities adapt it for their own
challenges, interests and priorities. As more people use the platform,
it has become a great example of how Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, science
research, and technology can coalesce in one place to benefit
communities through sharing of ice dangers and wildlife knowledge to
younger generations.
The past three weeks, late October to mid-November, were an
especially exciting time span for SIKU.org, as members of Arctic Eider
Society traveled to eight communities from the Kitikmeot to Kivalliq
regions of Nunavut to demonstrate the platform’s latest features to new
users: from hunters to teachers, youth to elders, and college students
to wildlife officers.
We are deeply thankful for the insights of each community member that
joined us, and for their time spent sharing ways to make SIKU.org
better for where they live. The lessons learned these past three weeks
reflect the value of implementing SIKU.org in as many different places
and seasons as possible. We are excited to turn everyone’s input from
this fall into reality by incorporating ice conditions and wildlife
names in all the different Inuktut dialects, and fine-tuning the app to
better communicate travel dangers during seasons when ice conditions are
most unstable.
Gjoa Haven workshop attendees after helping us lead a public community meeting about the app to their community
After
SIKU.org launches, we hope to continue growing our partnerships across
the Inuit Nunangat, so that all communities may participate in
SIKU.org’s ever-evolving development as a platform for
self-determination and climate change resilience.
About the authors
Candice Pedersen is a young Inuk who grew up in
Iqaluit, Nunavut. A graduate of the Environmental Technology Program,
Candice has been working in the enforcement field for the Government of
Nunavut and most recently the Federal Government of Canada. Candice is
the regional Kitikmeot coordinator for the Ikaarvik Program, which
focuses on Inuit Qauyimayatuqangit (IQ) and the relationship between
Inuit and researchers, and the Arctic Eider Society (AES), which runs
the SIKU.org project. Candice first joined the SIKU.org development team
after participating in a training workshop in March 2019, and
represented AES at the United Nations Forum Convention on Climate Change
in June. In her personal time, Candice is an avid outdoors person,
enjoying hunting, camping, sewing garments for hunting and fashion
alike, as well as protecting the environment. She has also been taught
the traditional art of tattooing Inuit women and has been working to
bring back these practices to the culture to empower aboriginal women in
a rapidly changing modern world.
Sarah Rosengard grew up in Queens, New York. She is a
SIKU coordinator for the Arctic Eider Society (AES) and a postdoctoral
fellow in oceanography at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
While completing a PhD in marine (and river) chemistry at MIT/Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, she grew passionate about communicating
science to stakeholders, using art to advance ocean science literacy,
and helping communities drive the research process. Following these
interests, she accepted a postdoctoral fellowship from the Ocean Leaders
program at UBC to explore applications of ocean optics to marine
resource management and STEAM education. Through this work, she
connected with the AES and various partners in Nunavut to codevelop
SIKU.org’s use across northern communities in close partnership with
Candice.
