| Summary: | MODIS hotspot data from NASA have now become a standard means of evaluating vegetation fires worldwide. Remote sensing is the most effective tool for large countries like Russia because it is hard to obtain exact, detailed forest fire data. Accumulated MODIS hotspot data of the nine years from 2002 to 2010 may allow us to assess recent changes in the vegetation fire incidence in Russia. This kind of analysis using various satellites is useful in estimating fire intensity and severity, burnt area, fire return interval and emission of greenhouse gases such as CO2. This paper discusses recent changes in the incidence of vegetation fires across the entire area of Russia based on analysis results of MODIS hotspot data. Firstly, Russia and its vicinity (covered area: 40°-75°N, 30°-180°E) were divided into 135 regions with equal intervals of 5° latitude and 10° longitude. Introducing an annual mean hotspot density measure (AMHD, number of hotspots/km2/yr), enabled Russian regional and seasonal fires to be analyzed and compared. In addition to this analysis, a detailed analysis was carried out for the Yakutsk region of Sakha using long-term weather data from 1830 to the present, recent daily weather data, hotspot data in 2002 and other data. The background to the intense fire activity near Sakha was determined by considering drought conditions and daily changes of air temperatures.
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