REMOTE SENSING-MODELIZATION APPROACH FOR DIURNAL ESTIMATION OF BURNT BIOMASS IN THE CENTRAL-AFRICAN-REPUBLIC SAVANNA

Experimental studies and mesoscale modeling of atmospheric chemistry r equire a good knowledge of the sources of the atmospheric constituent, at a temporal scale of about one hour and at a spatial scale correspo nding to the model grid. A combined remote sensing/modeling approach f or the estimation of the diurnal distribution of the amount of biomass burning in Central African Republic (C.A.R.) savanna fires is propose d. The fire propagation model (BEHAVE) developed by Rothermel was adap ted to the fuel characteristics encountered in C.A.R. Ground and airbo rne measurements with satellite images (NOAA/AVHRR) were used to predi ct an accurate estimate of the burnt biomass. This combination allows the calculation of the distribution of the number of fires during the day providing an evaluation of the instantaneous fluxes of the compoun ds emitted in the atmosphere by these fires.