Analyzing the interplay between wildfire burn areas, precipitation patterns, and tree cover change: A study in Mato Grosso, Brazil (2002-2021)
Subject
Abstract
The Amazon rainforest's distinctive ecosystem is threatened by new difficulties posed by climate change and increased wildfire occurrences, particularly in Brazil's Mato Grosso. This study explores the relationships between forest cover dynamics, precipitation patterns, and wildfire burn area over 20 years, from 2002 to 2021. This study will utilize NASA's Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) dataset to explore variations in tree cover percentage throughout Mato Grosso, contrasting these with yearly precipitation figures from the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) dataset and the Burn Area data derived from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites (MCD64A1 Version 6). The research seeks to explore the impact of variations in rainfall on forest coverage and its role in increasing wildfire risk, especially during prolonged droughts or severe dry periods.