Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

Tomsk region is situated in the taiga zone of Western Siberia. Its main part is covered with bog forests. These fires are longtermed and they can endure for years because of underground burning of peat. The destruction of bog forests leads to changes in the hydrological situation of the burnt area and its surroundings, to reclamation of bog and water objects and to changes in ecosystem. In order to estimate the area of forest burning of the region the scheme of coverage has been made. It is based on space images by Landsat-8 in the software package ENVI 4.7, including 23 shots during summer in 2013. On its basis the map of fires has been created in the software package ArcGis. According to our data 982000 ha (hectares) were damaged by fire in 2012, that is 31% of the territory of the region. The total number of fires was 404. We believe that the cause of natural occurrence of fires is the damage of natural structure of bog forests. It is represented by the structure �pine tree + bog shrubs+ sphagnum mosses�. In case of damage we can observe a sharp decrease in a level of bog water, which leads to drying of peat deposits up to two meters or more. It happens on damaged territories and natural surroundings. As far as the dried peat is highly flammable, these areas are fire exposed.

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