Satellite monitoring of forest fires and associated smoke plumes occurring in Korea

Operational research was carried out on satellite detection of forest fires and associated smoke plumes occurring in the Korean Peninsula. Forest fire data and satellite images obtained from 2004 to 2007 were examined. It was observed that at least three forest-fire episodes were caused by atmospheric lightning, while all other cases were recorded as anthropogenic causes, according to data gathered from the Korean meteorological and forestry services. For two episodes, there were 60 similar to 120 forest fires in North and South Korea, observations based on hotspots analysis. Smoke plumes transported over 1,200 km were observed. There was discussion of the role played by the emission of heated air and greenhouse gases in general warming and climate change in regional and global atmospheres, e.g., Arctic ice melting. With global warming, ice over the Arctic Ocean is melting significantly in summer (Chung and Le, Int J Remote Sens 25(2): front cover and 291-296, 2004). The suppression of forest fires caused by human activities is suggested to improve the atmospheric environment and to prevent climate change in the near future.