Remote-sensing constraints on South America fire traits by Bayesian fusion of atmospheric and surface data

However, 2010 CO fire emissions, based on satellite CO concentration measurements, were substantially lower (-28%), despite the once-in-a-century drought in 2010. We use Bayesian inference with satellite measurements of CH₄ and CO concentrations and burned area to quantify shifts in combustion characteristics in 2010 relative to 2007.

We find an 88% probability in reduced combusted biomass density associated with the 2010 fires and an 82% probability of lower fire carbon losses in 2010 relative to 2007. Higher combustion efficiency was a smaller contributing factor to the reduced 2010 CO emissions. The reduction in combusted biomass density is consistent with a reduction (4-6%) in Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 solar-induced fluorescence (a proxy for gross primary production) during the preceding months and a potential reduction in biomass (≤8.3%) due to repeat fires.