ProjectFast & furious:

Developing an early warning system for anticipating extremely intensewildfires (FASTFIRE). Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento 2022. MICINN.

Summary

Wildfires are a common phenomenon in many terrestrial ecosystems. However,unprecedented levels of fire activity and burned area have been reported across large parts ofthe globe. Mediterranean countries are no exception and the wildfire season of 2022 has beenregarded as extreme, with unregistered levels of burned area in regions like southwesternFrance or northwestern Spain. Global warming, along with land abandonment and an overalllack of fuel management at landscape and regional scales, have led to vast areas with waterstressedvegetation that are spatially connected and that can become highly flammableparticularly during droughted, windy or heat wave periods. Atmospheric instability, alongwith Pyrocumulus and Pyrocumulonimbus clouds, may act as compound events that furtherintensify fire behaviour, but their drivers and impacts on fire behavior are not wellunderstood.In this project we will: 1) quantify changes in wildfire intensity over the last decades; 2)understand the drivers underlying wildfire intensity and whether the relationship between fireintensity and its drivers has changed fundamentally in recent years; 3) develop an earlywarning system for extreme fire behaviour; and 4) communicate the results effectively with abroad audience (from fire-fighters to the society in general) and ensure replicability and dataaccess.We expect this project will transform current approaches for fire danger estimation, and itwill be developed with the participation of fire analysts from the Mediterranean regions ofpeninsular Spain, including UT GRAF (Catalonia), UT 902 (Valencia), Wildfire Service(Murcia) and INFOCA (Andalusia).

Requirements

BS and MS degrees in forestry, physics, geography, biology or related fields and meeting theother requirements to enrol in a doctoral school in Spain. We are looking for a highlymotivated candidate to pursue a research program at the interface between atmosphericphysics, forestry, ecology and applied fire management. We expect the candidate’s degreeswill be on at least one of these topics. The candidate must show capacity for writing, and willbe asked to send a letter stating her/his research interests along with the application. We also expect the person toshow excellent command of the English language, or willingness to learn. Having a validdriver’s license would be a plus.

What we offer

The candidate will join a very prolific and dynamic research group. The work will be basedbetween UdL and UNED and there will also be some field work. The candidate will alsointeract with fire analysts from the units previously acknowledged, in addition to the PhDadvisers (Víctor Resco de Dios, UdL, and Rubén Díaz Sierra, UNED). Note that this is a veryrare opportunity as most research projects are conducted only in contact with academics, buthere there will be a very strong interaction also with firefighting teams.In addition, our group is current leading a Spanish network to assess wildfire impacts(ARS22), with scientists from 15 different institutions. This will provide an unparalleledopportunity for networking and professional development. Our group is also involved inEuropean projects and there will be different opportunities for further internationalinteractions and research stays.The PhD scholarship will be for 3 years, starting on spring 2024. The student will be offereda full-time working contract with benefits according to the relevant regulations.

Sending the application

Please send your CV, including contact details for 2 referees, and a one page researchstatement describing your research interests (preferably in English, but Spanish or Catalan arealso allowed) to Víctor Resco de Dios (victor.resco@udl.cat) and Rubén Díaz Sierra(sierra@ccia.uned.es) until 2nd October 2023.