Modulating influence of drought on the synergy between heatwaves and dead fine fuel moisture content of bushfire fuels in the Southeast Australian region

During the 2019-20 summer season, Australia experienced frequent heatwave events with scorching temperatures and massive bushfires with dense smoke. These catastrophic heatwaves and bushfires resulted in huge socio-economic and ecological losses. The frequency and intensity of both heatwaves and bushfires are projected to increase in the future warming world. While considerable effort has been directed at understanding the physical mechanisms of these individual extreme events, an investigation of their interaction is lacking. We focus on the relationship between heatwaves and bushfire fuels by considering dead fine fuel moisture content, a critical factor that regulates the intensity, spread rate and the likelihood of profuse spotting of fires. We investigate the relationship by exploring the statistical correlations between various heatwave characteristics (frequency, duration, magnitude, and amplitude) and mean dead fine fuel moisture content over southeast Australia in the peak heat and fire season. This relationship varies among different heatwave characteristics as well as with regions. The prolonged duration of a heatwave is well associated with dead fine fuel dryness around the southeastern parts of the Southeast Australian region, whereas the hotter heatwave season favours the lower dead fine fuel moisture content over the Northeast parts of the Southeast Australia and central Victorian region. Results also suggest that dead fine fuel moisture content is significantly decreased on heatwave days compared to non-heatwave days. Lastly, we explored the effects of rainfall deficit on the relationship between heatwave and mean dead fine fuel moisture content by splitting the seasons based on the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI). Results show that the correlation strength is both seasonally and regionally dependent.

Automated summary

This study investigates the relationship between heatwaves and bushfire fuels in southeast Australia, finding a correlation between heatwave characteristics and dead fine fuel moisture content, which varies based on different heatwave features and regions.