International workshop on forest fires, smoke and air quality in Brazil
The University of Leeds and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) are hosting an international Workshop on forest fires, smoke and air quality in Brazil.
In 2024, wild fires affected 30 million hectares of Brazil — an area larger than the United Kingdom — causing severe environmental and health issues across the country. It is important to try and reduce future fires and help communities adapt to and reduce the impacts from fire.
To help with this need, the workshop brings together Brazilian and international researchers to discuss the impacts of wildfire on air quality and human health and to understand how changes in climate and land use will change fires in future decades. The workshop is part of the Climate Science for Service Partnership – Brazil (CSSP-Brazil). The event is being held at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in São José dos Campos, Brazil, between March 3rd and 5th.
The workshop will strengthen the scientific understanding of forest fires, their impacts on air quality and public health, as well as working to improve monitoring and modelling tools. The program is organized into three themes: on the first day, forest fires and air quality monitoring; in the second, health and impacts; and, in the third, climate impacts and modelling. Among other topics, the use of satellite remote sensing, atmospheric modelling, integration of environmental and epidemiological data, and possibilities of collaboration for the improvement of national systems, will be discussed. The workshop also plans to develop products and applications aimed at helping society adapt to changing wildfire in Brazil
The workshop features experts from a range of national institutions across Brazil such as INPE, USP, UFAC, IFAM, UFABC, IPAM, FGV, Fiocruz and the Ministry of Health, as well as representatives from the United Kingdom, including the University of Leeds and the Met Office. The multidisciplinary profile of the participants brings together competencies in environmental monitoring, atmospheric sciences, public health and epidemiology, strengthening the construction of scientific recommendations for sustainable public policies.
On the first day of the workshop, Maria Paula Velásquez García, PhD student at the University of Leeds, presented her work on modelling wildfire across Brazil.
Maria Paula Velásquez García presenting her work at the workshop.
The event is organized by the Division of Earth Observation and Geoinformatics (DIOTG/INPE) and the TREES-INPE Laboratory, under the coordination of researcher Liana Anderson, with support from the Center for Research, Development and Innovation Management (CGPDI) and the Brazilian Symposium on Remote Sensing (SBSR). On the last day, the participants will carry out a technical visit to INPE's Satellite Control and Tracking Center.
The event has simultaneous English-Portuguese translation.
The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in São José dos Campos, Brazil,
About CSSP Brazil
Launched in 2016, CSSP-Brazil (Science Partnership for Climate Services Brazil Portuguese) is a research program that supports scientific collaboration between Brazil and the United Kingdom, with funding from the British government's International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF). In Brazil, the initiative involves INPE, INPA and Cemaden – research units of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) – in partnership with the UK Met Office Hadley Centre and British universities.
The program aims to strengthen national scientific capacity in topics such as climate modeling, impacts of climate extremes, disaster risk reduction and climate services aimed at decision-making, in addition to promoting the training of researchers and the production of applied knowledge for society.
Since its creation, CSSP-Brazil has developed projects on different fronts of climate services, generating new knowledge, practical applications and products aimed at society, contributing to the understanding of current and future climate risks.
The results of the research developed within the scope of CSSP-Brazil are made available to society through VIEWpoint Brazil, a platform that brings together scientific content in accessible language to support decision-making and planning in the face of climate change. One product developed by researchers at the University of Leeds shows the local warming from tropical deforestation.