Kerryn Little's Avatar

Kerryn Little

@littlekerryn.bsky.social

#Wildfire πŸ”₯ & #climate researcher at University of Birmingham. Interested in all things fire (but especially fuels, fire-climate interactions, fire danger forecasting & fire ecology).

292 Followers  |  153 Following  |  14 Posts  |  Joined: 18.11.2024  |  1.7928

Latest posts by littlekerryn.bsky.social on Bluesky

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We are collecting records of fire behaviour in the UK!

Do you have fire behaviour observations (recent or historical) for a specific location, date and time? We welcome you to fill in this survey to help us to validate and improve FireInSite fire behaviour predictions.

Survey link: arcg.is/CyqWj2

31.07.2025 09:43 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Does your research involve fire and shrub fuels? πŸ”₯🌿
Please submit to our special session:
"Shrubland fuels and their fire behaviour modelling challenges"
at the 11th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress, New Orleans!

Abstracts due soon-15th July! afefirecongress.org/special-sess...

10.07.2025 12:40 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@unibirmingham.bsky.social

18.04.2025 18:14 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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So much has changed in the world since then, but fostering these collaborations remains as important as ever to address wildfire research challenges globally πŸ”₯πŸŒŽπŸ‘©β€πŸ”¬

18.04.2025 18:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

These discussions were borne from scoping potential funding opportunities between the USA and UK, a historically fire prone and emerging fire prone country.

18.04.2025 18:01 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Priority research directions for wildfire science: views from a historically fire-prone and an emerging fire-prone country | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Fire regimes are changing across the globe, with new wildfire behaviour phenomena and increasing impacts felt, especially in ecosystems without clear adaptations to wildfire. These trends pose signifi...

In a series of workshops in 2023, USA and UK wildfire scientists exchanged perspectives on priority directions for wildfire science research: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

18.04.2025 18:01 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

These longer-varying synoptic weather patterns like PPAs provide opportunities for developing early warning systems of extended, synchronous elevated fire weather, fire-prone conditions to aid wildfire awareness and preparedness decision-making.

17.04.2025 09:53 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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45% of pan-European burned area occurred during or up to 7 days following the presence of a PPA, with a latitudinal increase in the importance of PPAs up to 63% for Northern Europe.

17.04.2025 09:53 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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- We tracked PPA events across Europe, finding that extreme fire weather was on average 3.5 times more likely to occur when there was a PPA present.
- There is a lag between the breakdown of the PPA event and return to normal conditions where fuels continue to dry ready for ignition.

17.04.2025 09:53 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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PPAs can be used to identify those persistent, large and intense blocking highs that can lead to heatwaves and drought, providing optimum conditions for the drying of vegetation and ignition of wildfires.

17.04.2025 09:53 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Persistent positive anomalies in geopotential heights drive enhanced wildfire activity across Europe | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Persistent positive anomalies (PPAs) in 500 hPa geopotential height are upper-air circulation patterns associated with surface heatwaves, drought and fuel aridity. We examined the association between ...

New paper linking persistent high pressure systems to extreme fire weather and wildfire activity across Europe:
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

17.04.2025 09:53 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

This is really useful, thanks Tim! I would love to be added if that's ok - thank you! :)

22.11.2024 17:33 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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PhD opportunity!! ➑️Heathland Flammability Responses to Environmental Change 🌿πŸ”₯
centa.ac.uk/studentship/...
Work with a great team of researchers at University of Birmingham, University of Exeter, Forestry England & Met Office!

21.11.2024 19:41 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Testing the waters as it seems more and more people are making the move over here and I don't want to miss out on seeing all your cool research! πŸ”₯πŸŒ³πŸŒ‘οΈπŸ’§

18.11.2024 17:01 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

@littlekerryn is following 20 prominent accounts