Study of the relationship between forest fires and thunderstorms in Siberia using remote sensing data

Wildfires play an important role in the global carbon cycle. The global warming observed in recent decades leads to a disruption in the natural frequency of wildfires. One of the main sources of ignition in the vast, hard-to-reach areas of Siberia are lightning discharges. It is expected that global warming may lead to an increase in thunderstorm activity at high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Understanding the relationships between thunderstorm activity, meteorological conditions and wildfires is an urgent task in the context of a changing climate. In this study, a preliminary analysis of meteorological conditions during the occurrence of lightning-induced wildfires in Siberia is carried out using remote sensing and ERA5-Land reanalysis data. The largest number of initial ignition points of wildfires associated with lightning discharges for the 2009-2024 is observed in the center and east of Siberia. The meteorological conditions on the day of fire registration differ for fires that started on the day of lightning strike and for fires that started with a delay of 1-5 days after the lightning strike. The average precipitation amount on the day of lightning strike for fires that started immediately was 0.35 mm/day, while for fires that started with a delay it was 0.52 mm/day. The average values ​​of saturated vapor pressure deficit were 1.17 hPa for fires that started immediately and 1.01 hPa for fires that started with a delay. The surface air temperature values ​​for fires that started immediately averaged 21.5 °C, while for fires that started with a delay it was 20.7 °C.