Lightning-Induced Wildfires: An Overview

Abstract

Wildfire causes environmental, economic, and human problems or losses. This study reviewed wildfires induced by lightning strikes. This review focuses on the investigations of lightning mechanisms in the laboratory. Also, the paper aims to discuss some of the modeling studies on lightning-induced wildfires at different geographical locations using satellite-recorded lightning data and different statistical analyses. This review established that irrespective of the different models used to predict lightning wildfires, there is still a lack of understanding of the lightning-strike ignition mechanism; few experiments have been modeled to establish the dynamics of lightning-strike ignition. Therefore, further research needs to be carried out in this area to understand lightning ignition. It was ascertained from the various statistical modeling that lightning-induced wildfires are exacerbated by the abundant availability of fuel with a lower moisture content and high lightning efficiency. Moreover, because of changes in the climate and weather conditions, i.e., harsh weather and climate conditions due to anthropogenic activities, lightning-induced ignition wildfires have increased over the years, and they are expected to increase in the future if the climate and weather conditions continue to aggravate. Although various modeling studies have identified that lightning-induced wildfires have increased recently, no preventive measures have been conclusively proposed to reduce lightning-caused wildfires. Hence, this aspect of research has to be given critical attention. This review presents information that gives a profound understanding of lightning-induced wildfires, especially factors that influence lightning wildfires, and the state-of-the-art research that has been completed to understand lightning-induced wildfires.

Keywords

• lightning strike
• ignition
• wildfires
• climate and weather
• fuel condition
• topography