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Wildfire behaviour depends on complex interactions between fuels, topography and weather, over a wide range of scales, being important for fire research and management applications. To allow for a significant progress towards better fire management, the operational and research communities require detailed open data on observed wildfire behaviour. Here, we present the Portuguese Large Wildfire Spread Database (PT-FireSprd) that includes the reconstruction of the spread of 80 large wildfires that occurred in Portugal between 2015 and 2021. It includes a detailed set of fire behaviour descriptors, such as rate-of-spread (ROS), fire growth rate (FGR), and fire radiative energy (FRE). The wildfires were reconstructed by converging evidence from complementary data sources, such as satellite imagery/products, airborne and ground data collected by fire personnel, official fire data and information in external reports. We then implemented a digraph-based algorithm to estimate the fire behaviour descriptors and combined it with MSG-SEVIRI fire radiative power estimates. A total of 1197 observations of ROS and FGR were estimated along with 609 FRE estimates. The extreme fires of 2017 were responsible for the maximum observed values of ROS (8956 m/h) and FGR (4436 ha/h). Combining both descriptors, we defined 6 fire behaviour classes that can be easily communicated to both research and management communities and support a wide number of applications. Analysis also showed that the area burned by a wildfire is mostly determined by its FGR rather than by its forward speed. Finally, we explored a practical example to show the PT-FireSprd database can be used to study the dynamics of individual wildfires and build robust case studies for training and capacity building. The PT-FireSprd is the first open access fire progression and behaviour database in Mediterranean Europe, dramatically expanding the extant information. Updating the PT-FireSprd database will require a continuous joint effort by researchers and fire personnel. Updating the PT-FireSprd database will require a continuous joint effort by researchers and fire personnel. PT-FireSprd data are publicly available through https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7495506 (last access: 30th December 2022) and have a large potential to improve current knowledge on wildfire behaviour and support better decision-making (Benali et al. 2022).

Dissertação (mestrado) — Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Comunicação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação, 2022. Esta pesquisa é um processo e um produto autoetnográfico que se inscreve na produção de arquivos sobre homens trans no Brasil. Trata-se de um trabalho desenvolvido a partir da perspectiva da Comunicação, e que se dedica a analisar a formação de um itinerário de produções transmasculinas produções, biográficas e autobiográficas, entre as quais este trabalho se inclui. Essas narrativas estão inseridas em um contexto sociocultural de crescente visibilidade e efetivação de alguns direitos para a identidade transmasculina, do qual faço parte como cidadão, ativista e pesquisador. Desde 1982, a partir do lançamento A Queda para o Alto, de Anderson Herzer, homens trans têm buscado, de forma mais organizada, reconhecimento, visibilidade e direitos no Brasil. Antes dos anos 2000, os registros alcançados por essa pesquisa apontam a literatura como um dos poucos espaços de arquivo, fora da perspectiva médica, utilizados para produção de narrativas feitas por transmasculinos sobre suas identidades. Com a virada do século, alguns ativistas começaram a disputar direitos para homens trans, principalmente em relação ao acesso à saúde. Em 2011, o lançamento do segundo livro de João W. Nery, Viagem Solitária, representou um marco na produção de visibilidade para a identidade transmasculina, pois, a partir dessa obra, é possível verificar reportagens, entrevistas e personagens de novela, inspirados no trabalho de Nery. Neste panorama, esta autoetnográfica é um mergulho em minha própria história, ao mesmo tempo em que investiga o contexto político em que as principais mudanças recentes em relação à cidadania LGBT ocorreram. O esforço desta pesquisa está nessa reflexão sobre as conexões entre minha trajetória subjetiva e a produção coletiva de transmasculinidades no Brasil. Nesse percurso, localizo algumas das obras literárias produzidas por transmasculinos no país ao mesmo tempo em que relato e analiso alguns fragmentos da minha própria vida. Nesse horizonte, recorro às teorias e aos debates sobre gênero, juventude e interseccionalidade. This research is a process and an autoethnographic product that is inscribed in the production of archives about trans men in Brazil. It is a work developed from the perspective of Communication, and which is dedicated to analyzing the formation of an itinerary of transmasculine productions, biographical and autobiographical productions, among which this work is included. These narratives are inserted in a sociocultural context of increasing visibility and realization of some rights for the transmasculine identity, of which I am part as a citizen, activist, and researcher. Since 1982, since Anderson Herzer's release A Queda para o Alto, trans men have sought, in a more organized way, recognition, visibility, and rights in Brazil. Before the 2000s, the records reached by this research point to literature as one of the few archive spaces, outside the medical perspective, used for the production of narratives made by transmasculine men about their identities. With the turn of the century, some activists began to dispute rights for trans men, especially in relation to access to healthcare. In 2011, the launch of João W. Nery's second book, Viagem Solitária, represented a milestone in the production of visibility for the transmasculine identity, since, from this work, it is possible to verify reports, interviews and soap opera characters, inspired by the work from Nery. In this context, this autoethnographic study is a dive into my own history, while investigating the political context in which the main recent changes in relation to LGBT citizenship took place. The effort of this research is in this reflection on the connections between my subjective trajectory and the collective production of transmasculinities in Brazil. In this way, I locate some literary works produced by transmasculine men in the country while reporting and analyzing some fragments of my own life. In this horizon, I resort to theories and debates about gender, youth, and intersectionality.

Earth Observation (EO) techniques could offer a more cost-effective and rapid approach for reliable monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of soil organic carbon (SOC). Here, we analyse the available published literature to assess whether it may be possible to estimate SOC using data from sensors mounted on satellites and airborne systems. This is complemented with research using a series of semi-structured interviews with experts in soil health and policy areas to understand the level of accuracy that is acceptable for MRV approaches for SOC. We also perform a cost-accuracy analysis of the approaches, including the use of EO techniques, for SOC assessment in the context of the new UK Environmental Land Management scheme. We summarise the state-of-the-art EO techniques for SOC assessment and identify 3 themes and 25 key suggestions and concerns for the MRV of SOC from the expert interviews. Notably, over three-quarters of the respondents considered that a ‘validation accuracy’ of 90% or better would be required from EO-based techniques to be acceptable as an effective system for the monitoring and reporting of SOC stocks. The cost-accuracy analysis revealed that a combination of EO technology and in situ sampling has the potential to offer a reliable, cost-effective approach to estimating SOC at a local scale (4 ha), although several challenges remain. We conclude by proposing an MRV framework for SOC that collates and integrates seven criteria for multiple data sources at the appropriate scales.

This paper presents a framework for assessing the physical consistency between time-series of several satellite-based surface albedo and burned area products at global scale. The methodology evaluates the level of agreement of temporal change between these two Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) taking into account their uncertainties. Several configurations of surface albedo and burned area products, including the ones from MODIS Collection 6, Copernicus Global Land Service (C-GLS), Climate Change Initiative (CCI) and the GlobAlbedo, were analysed over the 2005–2011 period at 0.05°× 0.05° spatial resolution. The study evaluates the temporal and spatial coherence level in the ECV changes, and explores the product dependency impact on the fire-driven radiative forcings. The main findings indicate that the level of agreement between these two ECVs depends on the product combination but also on the albedo broadband. Whereas both GlobAlbedo and MODIS albedo changes are consistent both temporally and spatially when combined with any burned area product, the C-GLS albedo changes are characterised by lower levels of agreement. The results also indicate that surface albedo and burned area product changes are physically coherent for all biomes except grasslands and croplands, when using the MODIS burned area product. Using different combinations of burned area and surface albedo products, fire-induced radiative forcing estimates at the surface can differ, according to the biome, by 26% to 46%. The proposed framework identifies lack of coherency and consistency between the two ECVs. This novel approach allows us to address cross-ECV compatibility, and as such offers a valuable toolset to users.

A framework is proposed for assessing the physical consistency between two terrestrial Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) products retrieved from Earth Observation at global scale. The methodology assessed the level of agreement between the temporal variations of Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR). The simultaneous changes were classified according to their sign, magnitude and level of confidence, whereby the respective products uncertainties were taken into consideration. A set of proposed agreement metrics were used to identify temporal and spatial biases of non-coherency, non-significance, sensitivity and the overall level of agreement of the temporal changes between two ECVs. We applied the methodology using the Joint Research Center (JRC) Two-stream Inversion Package (TIP) products at 1 km, those provided by the Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) based on the SPOT/VGT and Proba-V at 1 km, and the MODIS MCD15A3 at 500 m. In addition, the same analysis was applied with aggregated products at a larger scale over Southern Africa. We found that the CGLS LAI and FAPAR products lacked consistency in their spatial and temporal changes and were severely affected by trends. The MCD15A3 products were characterized by the highest number of non-coherent changes between the two ECVs but temporal inconsistencies were mainly located over the eastern hemisphere. The JRC-TIP products were highly consistent. The results showed the advantages of physically-based retrieval algorithms, in both JRC-TIP and MODIS products, and indicated also that, except for MODIS over forests, aggregated products using an uncertainty-based weighted average led to higher agreement between the ECVs changes., Highlights • A new framework to evaluate physical consistency between LAI and FAPAR changes. • Spatial and temporal agreements are assessed considering user confidence level. • Products based on Radiative Transfer Model retrieval show best results. • Results depend on both spatial scale and land cover types.

A micologia é importante para a humanidade, proporcionando avanços científicos como a criação de antibióticos, tendo relevância em pesquisas que movimentam a medicina, indústrias farmacêuticas, agricultura e veterinária. Os fungos possuem morfologia complexa e necessitam constantemente de avaliações para conhecimento dos seus efeitos benéficos e nocivos. Assim, pesquisadores buscam métodos de conservação que mantenham a integridade morfofisiológica de culturas fúngicas. Neste contexto, nosso estudo objetivou realizar uma pesquisa qualitativa, por um período de 180 dias, avaliando três diferentes métodos de conservação de culturas fúngicas, com a finalidade de criação e manutenção de uma micoteca. Na metodologia adotada foram utilizadas quatro cepas fúngicas: Cryptococcus spp., Microsporum spp., Rhodotorula spp. e Trichophyton spp., as quais foram conservadas pelos métodos: água destilada estéril (Método de Castellani), óleo mineral estéril e repiques contínuos em Ágar Sabouraud e Mycosel. Ao término da realização dos testes, a técnica que apresentou o melhor resultado foi a conservação em água destilada estéril, apresentando como vantagens: baixo custo, facilidade de execução, acondicionamento em pequenos espaços, ausência de contaminantes e conservação satisfatória da integridade fúngica. O estudo confirmou a eficácia do método de conservação em água destilada estéril na manutenção de coletâneas fúngicas.

We inter-compare four remotely sensed Fire Radiative Power (FRP) products, the polar-orbiter products derived from active fires detected using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data (MCD14ML) and VIIRS (VNP14ML and VNP14IMGML), and geostationary products derived from data collected by Meteosat’s Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (the LSA-SAF FRP-PIXEL product). We focus on seven years of data (January 2012 to December 2018), and using the ability of the geostationary product to capture the daily fire cycle we quantify for each polar-orbiter FRP product the proportion of daily fire energy release that they capture and that which they miss, and also identify the areas where their overpass times successfully capture the diurnal fire activity peak, and where they do not. In addition, by analysing frequency density (f-D) distributions of FRP at a 0.5° grid cell resolution we evaluate each products minimum FRP detection limit, which typically precludes detection of a proportion of the highly numerous but individually relatively small and/or low intensity fires. Results are summarized by biome type based on the ESA CCI Land Cover product. Our inter-comparison allows for the identification and quantification of some of the key non-fire effects causing FRP underestimation in satellite FRP products: pixel size, pixel area growth off-nadir, and the low temporal resolution of polar-orbiting sensors. Our results and the methodology developed herein should serve to evaluate and cross-calibrate FRP estimates obtained by the future Copernicus Climate Change Services (C3S) FRP products, which initially at least will be based only on SLSTR data collected by the Sentinel-3 satellite.

This paper addresses the product consistency in a cross-ECV model space driven ECV’s to estimate the radiative forcing (RF) due to the direct effect of fire- driven surface albedo change. Monthly radiative forcing’s are modeled using three Earth Observation land surface albedo (MCD43C3, GlobAlbedo and Copernicus Global Land Services) and five burnt area (FireCCIv4, FireCCIv5, MCD45C5, MCD64C6 and Copernicus Global Land Services) products, and the ERA5 downward Solar radiation at the Surface. The ensemble consistency is analyzed spatially and seasonally by vegetation cover type using the Land Cover CCI product, and using four spatial resolutions (0.05°, 0.10°, 025° and 0.5°). Results show that depending on the combined products and spatial resolution, estimates can differ significantly. In general, higher estimates result at coarser resolutions and variation between product combinations can differ between 26% to 46%, depending on the type of vegetation. In addition, significant temporal trends of opposing signs can be detected. This study presents an example of cross-ECV modelling. Due to the increasing number, and coverage, of Earth Observation satellite programs, these results highlight the need to assess the fitness for purpose of the derived products.

Nowadays, an increasingly amount of remote sensing and in-situ data are extending over decades. They contribute to increase the relevance of long-term studies aimed to deduce the mechanisms underlying the climate change dynamics. The aim of this study is to investigate the coherence between trends of different long-term climate related variables including the surface albedo (A) and land surface temperature (LST) as obtained by remote sensing platforms, models and in-situ observations. Directional-hemispherical and bi-hemispherical broadband surface reflectances as derived from MODIS-MCD43 (v006) and MISR, and the analogous products of the Copernicus Global Land (CGLS) and C3S services derived from SPOT-VEGETATION, PROBA-V and AVHRR (v0 and v1), have been harmonized and, together with the ECMWF ERA-5 model, assessed with respect ground data taken over polar areas, over a temporal window spanning the last 20 years. The benchmark was established using in-situ measurements provided from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) over four Arctic and four Antarctic sites. The 1-minute resolution datasets of broadband upwelling and down-welling radiation, have been reduced to directional- and bi-hemispherical reflectances, with the same time scale of satellite products (1-day, 10-days, monthly). A similar approach was used to investigate the fitness for purpose of Land Surface Temperature as derived by MODIS (MOD11), ECMWF ERA-5, with respect to the brightness temperature derived using BSRN measurements over the longwave band. The entire temporal series are decomposed into seasonal and residual components, and then the presence of monotonic significant trends are assessed using the non-parametric Kendall test. Preliminary results shown a strong correlation between negative albedo trends and positive LST trends, especially in arctic regions.

Regional to global-scale biomass burning emissions inventories are primarily based on satellite-derived burned area or fire radiative power (FRP), and most rely on conversions to fuel consumption prior to the emissions estimation stage. This is generally considered the step introducing greatest uncertainty, and some apparently discrete inventories are not fully independent, as they have been cross-calibrated to aid this stage. We present a novel emissions inventory approach that bypasses the fuel consumption step, directly linking geostationary FRP measures to emission rates of total particulate matter (TPM), via coefficients derived from observations of smoke plume aerosol optical depth (AOD). The approach is fully ‘top-down’, being based on spaceborne observations alone, is performed at or close to the FRP data's original pixel resolution, and avoids the need to assume or model fuel consumption per unit area prior to the emissions calculation. Rates and totals of trace gas and carbon emission can be inferred from the TPM fluxes, and in combination with satellite burned area (BA) products the approach provides an innovative top down approach to mapping fuel consumption per unit area (kg·m− 2) as a last step in the calculation. Using this innovative methodology, which we term ‘FREemissions’ (FREM), we generate a 2004–2012 fire emissions inventory for southern Africa, based on Meteosat FRP-PIXEL data. We find basic annual average TPM emissions 45% higher than the widely used GFASv1.2 inventory, with our higher totals in line with independent assessments that necessitate a significant upscaling of GFAS TPM emissions to match observed AODs. Our estimates are also 12% higher than GFEDv4.1s, which already includes a substantial upward adjustment for fires too small to be detected by the MODIS MCD64A1 BA product. If we adjust the FREM-derived emissions for SEVIRI's inability to detect the lower FRP component of the regions fire regime then the differences between FREM and GFAS/GFED grow further, to a mean of 64% with respect to GFED4.1s TPM emissions for example. These upwardly adjusted FREM estimates agree very well with FEER, an FRP- and AOD-based inventory driven by polar-orbiting MODIS FRP ‘snapshots’ rather than geostationary observations. Similarly higher totals are seen for FREM's fire-emitted trace gases, derived using the emission factor ratios of gases to particulates. Our exploitation of geostationary FRP requires fewer assumptions than use of polar orbiter FRP measures, avoids biases coming from incomplete sampling of the fire diurnal cycle, and enables the FREM approach to provide fire emissions and fuel consumption estimates at a higher spatio-temporal resolution than any inventory currently available (e.g. 0.05°, and hourly averages or better), including per km2 of area burned. The approach offers great potential to generate very high resolution fire emissions datasets for the tropics, sub-tropics and potentially temperate zones, with updates available in near real-time from the global suite of geostationary meteorological satellites operated by organisations such as EUMETSAT (Meteosat), NOAA (GOES) and JMA (Himawari).

Aim While fire is recognized as an integral part of the Earth system, the ability of humans to shape fire regimes both spatially and temporally remains poorly understood. Our goals were to identify the extent of fire regimes exhibiting two annual fire seasons and to investigate the environmental correlates of such regimes at the global scale. Location All areas of the globe exhibiting relevant fire activity, at 0.5o spatial resolution. Time period 2002-2012. Major taxa studied (not applicable). Methods The modality of fire seasonality at the global scale was classified using a 10-year record of satellite-derived fire activity and model fitting of circular statistical distributions. The main environmental correlates controlling global fire regimes were then analysed over bimodal and unimodal areas using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. Results About 25% of the global land surface with relevant fire activity has two significantly distinct fire seasons per year, with at least one of these seasons occurring under sub-optimal fire weather conditions. In these bimodal areas, population density and the fraction of fires occurring in actively managed land, especially in croplands and pastures, are significantly higher than in neighbouring unimodal areas. Results reveal that through these land-use and management practices humans have a strong influence on global patterns of fire seasonality. Main conclusions We identified a bimodal seasonality pattern, previously unreported at the global scale, and show that it reveals an anthropogenic fingerprint on fire regimes. Insights into where and when fire is actively employed as a land management tool enhance our understanding of the role of fire in the Earth system, and highlight the need to better understand how fire practices may change in the future.

Este artigo parte de uma pesquisa maior que investiga como a discriminacao a pessoas trans afeta sua empregabilidade e acesso a renda. Aqui exploramos duas categorias ( cisplay e passabilidade) que emergiram nos relatos e se expressam de forma paradoxal no universo do trabalho: operam tanto como vetores de exclusao e violencia, quanto como uma forma de sublimacao da diferenca. Mostramos como o corpo trans e necessariamente moldado por necessidades economicas e sociais comuns, ultrapassando o âmbito da escolha individual, que tambem esta presente, mas deslocada para o âmbito da possibilidade . Argumentamos que o trabalho pode ser, e frequentemente o e, um sistema operador da cisgeneridade compulsoria.

This paper aims to assess the relationship between the surface reflectance derived from ground based and aircraft measurements. The parameters of the Rahman&ndash, Pinty&ndash, Verstraete (RPV) and Ross Thick-LiSparse (RTLS) kernel based bi-directional reflectance distribution functions (BRDF), have been derived using actual measurements of the hemispherical-directional reflectance factor (HDRF), collected during different campaigns over the Railroad Valley Playa. The effect of the atmosphere, including that of the diffuse radiation on bi-directional reflectance factor (BRF) parameter retrievals, assessed using 6S model simulations, was negligible for the low turbidity conditions of the site under investigation (&tau, 550&le, 0.05). It was also shown that the effects of the diffuse radiation on RPV spectral parameters retrieval is linear for the isotropic parameter &rho, 0 and the scattering parameter &Theta, and can be described with a second order polynomial for the k-Minnaert parameter. In order to overcome the lack of temporal collocations between aircraft and in-situ measurements, Monte Carlo 3-D radiative transfer simulations mimicking in-situ and remote sensing techniques were performed on a synthetic parametric meshed scene defined by merging Landsat and Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) remote sensing reflectance data. We simulated directional reflectance measurements made at different heights for PARABOLA and CAR, and analyzed them according to practices adopted for real measurements, consisting of the inversion of BRF functions and the calculation of the bi-hemispherical reflectance (BHR). The difference of retrievals against the known benchmarks of kernel parameters and BHR is presented. We associated an uncertainty of up to 2% with the retrieval of area averaged BHR, independently of flight altitudes and the BRF model used for the inversion. As expected, the local nature of PARABOLA data is revealed by the difference of the anisotropic kernel parameters with the corresponding parameters retrieved from aircraft loops. The uncertainty of the resultant BHR fell within &plusmn, 3%.

The accuracies of six global burned area (BA) products for year 2008 were compared using the same validation methods and reference data to quantify accuracy of each product. The selected products include MCD64, MCD45 and Geoland2, and three products developed within the Fire Disturbance project (fire_cci), which is part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) program. The latter three products were derived from MERIS and VEGETATION sensors (one product from each sensor separately, and a third one from the merging of MERIS and VGT products). The reference fire perimeters were mapped from two multi-temporal Landsat TM/ETM + images at 103 non-overlapping Thiessen scene areas (TSA) selected with a stratified random sampling design. The validation results were based on cross tabulated error matrices from which six accuracy measures were computed following the requirements of end-users of burned area products. While overall accuracy (OA) exceeded 99% for all products, overall accuracy was lower for the burned class. Burned area commission error ratio was above 40% for all products and omission error ratio was above 65% for all products. The statistical significance of differences in accuracy between pairs of products was evaluated based on theory of the stratified combined ratio estimator. Statistical tests identified the MCD64 as the most accurate product, followed by MCD45 and the MERIS product.

Vegetation fires have been acknowledged as an environmental process of global scale, which affects the chemical composition of the troposphere, and has profound ecological and climatic impacts. However, considerable uncertainty remains, especially concerning intra and inter-annual variability of fire incidence. The main goals of our global-scale study were to characterise spatial-temporal patterns of fire activity, to identify broad geographical areas with similar vegetation fire dynamics, and to analyse the relationship between fire activity and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. This study relies on 10 years (mid 1996–mid 2006) of screened European Space Agency World Fire Atlas (WFA) data, obtained from Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) and Advanced ATSR (AATSR) imagery. Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of the dataset. Regions of homogeneous fire dynamics were identified with cluster analysis, and interpreted based on their eco-climatic characteristics. The impact of 1997–1998 El Niño is clearly dominant over the study period, causing increased fire activity in a variety of regions and ecosystems, with variable timing. Overall, this study provides the first global decadal assessment of spatio-temporal fire variability and confirms the usefulness of the screened WFA for global fire ecoclimatology research.

Fire is an integral Earth system process, playing an important role in the distribution of terrestrial ecosystems and affecting the carbon cycle at the global scale. Fire activity is controlled by a number of biophysical factors, including climate, whose relevance varies across regions and landscapes. In light of the ongoing climate change, understanding the fire-climate relationships is an issue of current interest in order to identify the most vulnerable regions. Building upon recent global observations of burned areas and climate, we investigate the sensitivity of fire activity to fire-weather across the world's major biomes. We identify the biomes susceptible to inter-annual fire-weather fluctuations, unveiling a non-linear relationship with a saturation threshold past which the area burned can be considered insensitive to increasing fire-weather. Our results depict an unambiguous spatial pattern that identifies the world regions where short-term climate fluctuations are unlikely to produce any significant effect on current fire activity, and those most sensitive to fire-weather changes. In particular, the boreal forests and extensive areas of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (excluding Africa) as well as sizeable areas of temperate broadleaf forests are identified as highly sensitive. We then present near-future fire-weather scenarios (period 2026-2045) using a state-of-the-art ensemble or Earth System Models (ESMs) from the CMIP5 database, considering a moderate and a high emission scenario (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5). The projected anomalies in fire-weather for the vulnerable temperate biomes are small in magnitude and their direction is either negative or just slightly positive, although significant differences in the projected probability density functions suggest that disruptions of fire regimes may occur locally. Other sensitive ecosystems, like the rain forests of the Amazon basin may experience a significant increment in fire-weather that may result in severe impacts on fire regimes as a direct consequence of climate change in the next decades., The research leading to these results has received funding from the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement 243888 (FUME Project).

The summer of 2003 was characterised by exceptional warm weather in Europe, particularly during the first two weeks of August, when a devastating sequence of large fires was observed, reaching an amount of circa 450 000 ha, the largest figure ever recorded in Portugal in modern times. They were concentrated in two relatively confined regions of Portugal and a considerable proportion of burnt area was due to fires started on the 2nd and 3rd of August. It is shown that the 850 hPa temperature values observed over Portugal for the 1st and 2nd of August 2003 were the highest recorded since 1958. Using data from synoptic stations covering the entire Portuguese territory, the event was characterised in fine detail, including the evolution of both maximum and minimum temperatures, surface relative humidity, and wind anomaly fields. The different spatial extent of maximum and minimum temperatures is analysed leading to the new all-time Portuguese records of 47.3 °C for maximum and 30.6 °C for minimum temperatures that were recorded on the 1st of August near the main area of occurrence of the largest fire. Finally, it is shown that the summer of 2003 was preceded by a wet winter followed by a very dry month of May, a precipitation anomalous regime that contributed to a climatic background that favoured the role played by the early August heatwave and the associated meteorological surface conditions. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society

The miombo woodlands of southern Africa are one of the most extensively burned biomes in the tropics. The detectability of understory burns in these woodlands was assessed with a sensitivity analysis approach, based on a hybrid geometrical–optical radiative transfer model. Model input data were obtained from a variety of sources, including field biometry and spectroradiometry, and satellite data. The effects of variable tree percent cover, leaf area index, stand density, burn scar age, illumination and observation geometry, and spectral region, were taken into account. Detectability of understory burns was defined as the spectral separability of burned and unburned understory, measured with the Jeffries–Matusita distance, for all possible combinations of the green, red, and near-infrared channels of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) sensor. Single channels, or pairwise combinations of channels perform poorly at detecting understory burns, but a large improvement in detectability is obtained for the combination of the three spectral domains. The detectability of understory burns is largely insensitive to the effects of stand structure and illumination/observation geometry, and depends primarily on burn scar age. Our results agree with those of previous satellite-based studies of burns scar detectability in African savanna woodlands.

This study analyses the relationship between fire incidence and some environmental factors, exploring the spatial non-stationarity of the phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa. Geographically weighted regression (GWR) was used to study the above relationship. Environment covariates comprise land cover, anthropogenic and climatic variables. GWR was compared to ordinary least squares, and the hypothesis that GWR represents no improvement over the global model was tested. Local regression coefficients were mapped, interpreted and related with fire incidence. GWR revealed local patterns in parameter estimates and also reduced the spatial autocorrelation of model residuals. All the covariates were non-stationary and in terms of goodness of fit, the model replicates the data very well (R 2 = 87%). Vegetation has the most significant relationship with fire incidence, with climate variables being more important than anthropogenic variables in explaining variability of the response. Some coefficient estimates exhibit locally different signs, which would have gone undetected by a global approach. This study provides an improved understanding of spatial fire–environment relationships and shows that GWR is a valuable complement to global spatial analysis methods. When studying fire regimes, effects of spatial non-stationarity need to be incorporated in vegetation-fire modules to have better estimates of burned areas and to improve continental estimates of biomass burning and atmospheric emissions derived from vegetation fires.

p.157-162 Submitted by Texeira Ana (atanateixeira@gmail.com) on 2012-05-15T18:57:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Magalhães, Manuela Oliveira de Cerqueira.pdf: 204873 bytes, checksum: cd08e66e9d1014d323f2c479551e834e (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2012-05-15T18:57:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Magalhães, Manuela Oliveira de Cerqueira.pdf: 204873 bytes, checksum: cd08e66e9d1014d323f2c479551e834e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-06 Objective: To identify risk factors for dementia among the elderly in a rural area of Northeastern Brazil. Method: The subjects assessed were all 60 years old or older, and lived in a rural region of Bahia, a Northeastern State of Brazil. CAMDEX, a structured clinical evaluation protocol, was used for diagnosis, and applied at the home of the subjects. Results: The risk factors identified were divided in accordance with socio-demographic characteristics, the presence of co-morbid conditions, and the use of medications. The variables with strong association with dementia were age, history of stroke, arterial hypertension, and sight impairment. Conclusion: Advanced age, arterial hypertension, and vascular brain injury were the main risk factors associated with dementia, which suggests that public health measures adopted to prevent and control modifiable risk factors can mitigate the prevalence of high rates of dementia. São Paulo

Gestão estratégica do design de embalagens: A comunicação visual a serviço da marca tem por objetivo resgatar a importância do design de embalagens como mídia fundamental na comunicação de marca, explorar suas potencialidades e limites a partir de uma abordagem estratégica, onde o design ganha um escopo de atuação ampliado não restrito à manipulação de recursos visuais ou a uma função exclusiva do designer, bem como contribuir para um melhor emprego do design de embalagens a partir da conscientização dos profissionais e estudiosos das áreas de marketing, comunicação e design quanto à sua importância, fornecendo subsídios para que esses possam inovar de maneira integrada e competitiva. Baseada em um estudo exploratório focado no levantamento de fontes literárias, na sistematização de conteúdos, na realização de entrevistas com profissionais envoltos na temática e no estudo de alguns casos, a dissertação aponta para uma nova visão em que a embalagem só é capaz de trabalhar a serviço da marca se for gerida segundo uma mentalidade estratégica de design, suportada por uma abordagem projetual associada aos objetivos de marketing e de planejamento de marca que amplia o raio de atuação do designer e do executivo de marketing. Afinal, o design de embalagens não se restringe a atividades de senso estético, mas a uma função que implica na gestão de informações, que começa e termina no marketing e que se expressa por meio da comunicação visual. Strategic packaging design management: the visual communication working for the brand aims to rescue the importance of packaging design as a fundamental media in brand communication; to explore main potentialities and limits under an strategic view, where the design´s scope is increased being more than visual elements organization or an exclusive designer´s task, as well contribute to a better use of packaging design by designers and marketers through a real recognition of its importance, providing new tools for a competitive and integrated innovation process. Based on an exploratory study focused on the research of academic sources, organization of contents, professionals´ interviews and some case studies, this research points out to a new vision, where the package is able to work for the brand if handled with an strategic design mindset, supported by a projectual approach associated with both marketing objectives and brand planning, which amplifies the designer and marketing executives´ responsibilities. After all, design is not restricted to aesthetical activities but involves a function that relates to information management, which begins and ends in marketing and that expresses itself through visual communication.

[1] The area burned in southern Africa during the 2000 dry season was mapped on a monthly basis from May to November using SPOT-VEGETATION (VGT) satellite imagery at 1 km spatial resolution. Burned areas were identified with a classification tree that relied only on the near-infrared channel of VGT. The classification tree algorithm yielded very accurate results (Kappa = 0.93). However, when compared with burned area maps derived from 30 m resolution Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) imagery, the VGT 1 km burned area maps reveal variable accuracy, dependent on vegetation type and on the spatial pattern of the burned areas. Fire incidence was higher in the northern part of the study area, especially in Wetter Zambezian Miombo Woodland, Mosaic of Guineo-Congolian Lowland Forest and Secondary Grassland, Edaphic and Secondary Grassland on Kalahari Sand, Drier Zambezian Miombo Woodland, and Undifferentiated North-Zambezian Miombo Woodland. Fire incidence was lower in the eastern part of the study area and almost absent from the western and southern semiarid and desert regions. The most extensively burned countries were, in decreasing order, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Mozambique and Zambia. The total area burned was estimated at 959480 km2.

Decadal changes have been observed in the annual catch of sardine (Sardina pilchardus W). Long-term changes have also been observed in alongshore winds off Portugal in the last decades in winter months. During sardine spawning season (winter), northerly winds that favour upwelling led to unfavourable conditions for egg and larval survival. By using time series analysis, we investigated the effect of wind conditions and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the sardine catches, in the period from 1946-1991. We also investigated the time lag between recruitment strength and its turnout in catches. We concluded that recruitment is forced to a lower level when the frequency and intensity of northerly wind exceeds a certain limit in winter. Our time series retrospective analyses led to evidence of climatic driven regime-shifts in West Portugal sardine productivity in late 1960s-early 1970s. These results are discussed in terms of their implications in fisheries management plans., No disponible

Although not considered as an endemic region, the Northeast of Brazil has the necessary conditions for the development of taeniasis-cysticercosis complex. In a previous paper, we demonstrated that Mulungu do Morro municipality, in the State of Bahia, has a high seroprevalence to cysticercosis in epileptic patients. OBJECTIVE: to determine the prevalence of taeniasis and positive cysticercosis serology in the population of Mulungu do Morro. METHOD: blood and stool samples were collected from a random sampling of the population, by family. The identification of antibodies against T. solium cysticerci was made by EITB and T. solium antigens were identified using a polyclonal antibody-capture ELISA. RESULTS: the cysticercosis seroprevalence was 1.6% (C.I. = 0.8 to 2.8%) and the taeniasis prevalence 4.5% (C.I. = 3.0 to 6.5%). Seropositivity to cysticercosis was higher among those who lived in a house of a person testing positive for coproantigen, p=0.017. CONCLUSION: our results demonstrate that the taeniasis-cysticercosis complex is endemic in Mulungu do Morro. We believe that all areas in the world with the same socio-economic and sanitary characteristics are likely to have high prevalence of this parasite. Embora alguns autores não a considerem uma região endêmica, existem no Nordeste do Brasil as condições necessárias para o desenvolvimento do complexo teníase/ cisticercose. Em uma publicação prévia demosntramos no município de Mulungu do Morro, Bahia, alta soroprevalência para cisticercose em pacientes epilépticos. OBJETIVO: determinar a prevalência de teníase e sorologia positiva para cisticercose na população de Mulungu do Morro. MÉTODO: foram coletadas amostras de sangue e fezes em 175 famílias definidas aleatoriamente. A identificação de anticorpos séricos anti-cisticerco foi feita através do método de EITB e a presença de teníase foi verificada através de ELISA de captura para identificação de antígenos do parasita nas fezes. RESULTADOS: encontramos soroprevalência para cisticercose de 1,6% (IC a 95% de 0,8 a 2,8%) e prevalência de teníase de 4,5% (IC a 95% de 3,0 a 6,5%). Foi observado maior número de soropositivos nas famílias em que havia uma pessoa com teníase (p=0,007). CONCLUSÕES: nossos resultados demonstram que Mulungu do Morro é endêmico para teníase e cisticercose. Acreditamos que os demais municípios do Nordeste, cujas características socio-econômicas e condições sanitárias são semelhantes ao estudado, apresentam também alta prevalência dessa parasitose e que estudos epidemiológicos são necessários para esta definição e para que medidas de controle sejam tomadas.

[1] The seasonal variation analysis of a land surface albedo data set derived from 1-year Meteosat observations reveals the high sensitivity of albedo to anthropogenic biomass burning activities during the dry season. At the beginning of this season, a rapid decrease of albedo is observed over fire-prone areas. These low albedo values last during the entire dry season, increasing slowly at the end of this season. This paper focuses on a quantitative estimation of biomass burning impact on albedo seasonal variations. To this end, a conceptual method is proposed to detect pixels whose albedo seasonal cycle is affected by biomass burning. The performance of this approach is evaluated over the central Africa region, where the Experiment for Regional Sources and Sinks of Oxidants (EXPRESSO) field campaign took place in November 1996. Our results compare favorably with maps of fire-affected areas derived from NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) observations. When applied over the entire African continent, the Northern Hemisphere appears much more affected by fire-induced albedo decrease than the Southern Hemisphere. At a regional scale, Northern Hemisphere fires are responsible for a relative decrease of the albedo as large as 25% with respect to nonburnt areas. The amplitude of this large-scale darkening phenomenon might locally affect the wind regime and associated rainfall.

We screened the algorithm 2 (308 K threshold) European Space Agency (ESA) World Fire Atlas (WFA), for the period 1997–2002, using ancillary land cover, night-lights and volcanic activity datasets, combined with statistical techniques to detect the occurrence of space-time clusters of anomalous observations. The WFA is built using night time data from the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) onboard the Second European Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS-2). The spatial resolution of the data is 1 km and the satellite revisiting period is 3 days at the equator. The WFA is the first and longest archive of global fire observations and has been used in numerous biomass burning studies. Known limitations of the WFA are the inclusion of warm surfaces, gas flares, and city lights, and an underestimation of actual global fire activity, due to the time of satellite overpass. Nevertheless, it has been considered that the WFA contains a relatively small proportion of observations that do not correspond to vegetation fires, which is not corroborated by our findings. During the study period, the annual percentage of false alarms and non-vegetation fires varied from a minimum value of 20.6% in 1997 to a maximum of 27.9% in 1998. Gas flares and hot bare soils are the major sources of false alarms and non-vegetation fires.