OBSERVER: Global Wildfire Watch: Copernicus EMS and CAMS Monitor Wildfires in 2023

Rising Temperatures, Surging Flames: The 2023 Wildfire Season has Arrived 

As the 2023 wildfire season begins in Europe, the continent is confronted with the ever-challenging struggle to combat these devastating natural disasters. The rising global temperatures and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events have already led to a surge in the number and intensity of wildfires, swiftly engulfing vast expanses of vegetation and forested lands. By 22 July this year, the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) reported that more than 182,569 hectares across the EU had already been reduced to ashes, more than 40% above the average recorded over the period from 2003 to 2022 (128,225 hectares). Indeed, nations such as Greece and Italy have already fallen victim to large-scale blazes that pose a significant threat not only to the environment but also to human settlements.

The impact of these wildfires reaches well beyond ecological destruction and air pollution, leading to significant economic losses for businesses and the agricultural sector. Moreover, environmentalists are increasingly worried about the loss of biodiversity, highlighting the pressing necessity for protective measures to preserve Europe's fragile ecosystems. In light of this growing crisis, authorities are intensifying their endeavours to improve wildfire management, prevention strategies, and cooperation across borders to protect the environment and ensure the safety of vulnerable communities.

The July 2023 wildfires in Greece

Since 17 July, Greece has been dealing with devastating wildfires. Affecting densely populated areas such as resorts on the islands of Corfu and Rhodes or the surroundings of Athens, these fires are spreading and endangering an increasing number of people. In response to this emergency, authorities have already evacuated tens of thousands of residents and tourists, an effort that the Greek government has described as the largest evacuation in the country's history. In support of these operations, the European Union has already provided more than 450 firefighters and 7 firefighting planes from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. 

This sudden surge in wildfires has rapidly changed a summer season that, until the first half of the month, seemed to be faring better than previous years. In the span of a week, however, the total burned area in Greece increased significantly, to 5 times the average annual value for the 2006-2022 reference period.

Figure 1: The Corfu, Eubea and Rhodes islands wildfires as seen by a Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite [Credit: European Union, 2023]

Between 17 and 24 July, the Greek Civil Protection requested 7 activations of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) Rapid Mapping module to monitor the evolution of the raging fires and support emergency response. The first four activations were triggered in the span of 48 hours and concerned the Attica, the eastern Peloponnese and the island of Rhodes. The last three we requested on 24 July for the islands of Evia and Corfu, as well as the north of the Peloponnese. In total, 20 maps have been delivered, covering a total burnt area of more than 34,000 ha over the 7 areas of interest. The full Information Bulletin is available here.

Figure 2: CEMS Monitoring Product showing the geographic distribution of the 7 Copernicus EMS Rapid Mapping activations for wildfires in Greece – Status as of 24 July at 19:00 CEST. [Credit: Copernicus EMS, European Union 2023]

Additionally, these wildfires are also causing significant concern over the air quality in the affected areas. Copernicus is providing extensive support on this front as well, thanks to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and its forecasts for atmospheric concentration of particulate matter.

Figure 3: PM2.5 surface concentration from the 24 July 00 UTC forecast valid for 12 UTC. [Credit: Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, European Union 2023]

Copernicus EMS: A Crucial Tool for Wildfire Management and Protection in Europe

The Copernicus Emergency Management Service plays a vital role in all stages of the emergency management cycle, including preparedness, prevention, disaster risk reduction, emergency response, and recovery. Within the Early Warning and Monitoring component of CEMS, the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) provides near real-time and historical information on forest fires and forest fire regimes in the European, Middle Eastern and North African regions. In particular, EFFIS provides detailed information on their evolution and potential impact on human settlements and ecosystems. It achieves this through a network of satellites and missions with advanced sensors, which continuously monitor the Earth's surface and detect real-time wildfire occurrences. These cutting-edge instruments significantly enhance EFFIS's capabilities, providing high-resolution imagery and data to identify fire hotspots, assess fire behavior, and track wildfire spread across vast areas. The real-time information enables EFFIS to update emergency response teams promptly, aiding them in resource deployment and evacuation planning. The collaborative efforts of these missions lead to broader coverage and a comprehensive understanding of fire dynamics, improving fire risk prediction, supporting firefighting operations, and safeguarding communities and ecosystems from the devastating impact of wildfires in Europe. By supplying comprehensive and up-to-date data on fire hotspots, intensity, and spread patterns, Copernicus empowers authorities to swiftly assess wildfire scale and location, enabling more precise and targeted emergency responses.

For the most up to date information on the current fire season in Europe and in the Mediterranean area, view the current situation viewer.

To request country totals (burnt areas & number of fires) per year, as published in the Forest Fires in Europe, North Africa and Middle East reports and more, request data here.

To discover the fire danger and the vulnerability of wildfires for people, ecological and economic values, view the wildfire Risk index for the pan-European Scale.

Global Fire Insight: CAMS and the Cutting-Edge Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS)

CAMS provides up-to-date information on the location, intensity, and emissions of wildfires, vegetation fires and open burning around the world through its Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS). This information is based on measurements from instruments on satellites that are able to detect the fire radiative power (FRP), essentially the heat signal, of active fires. Using these FRP observations, CAMS is able to estimate the intensity and related emissions of fires. Fire emissions can also be estimated from satellite observations of the burn scar of fires, but this information is not available in near-real-time like the FRP observations. For this reason, CAMS does not use or provide any information on the physical size of any wildfires. 

Figure 4: Carbon monoxide at 850 hPa [ppbv] (provided by CAMS, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) from the 21 July 00 UTC forecast valid for 03 UTC. [Credit: Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, European Union 2023]