The remote-sensing based estimation of the evapotranspiration change due to the 2019 April Gangwon-do wildfire

A wildfire could significantly alter the local hydrological regime, depending on the area and severity, and thus it is critical to understand its effect and feedback using data and simulation. For the wildfire in Gangwon-do on April 4-5, 2019, South Korea, we retrieved the Normalized-Burned Ratio (NBR) index using remote-sensing data (500-m 8-day MODIS surface reflectance data), and detect the damaged-area based on the difference in the NBR (dNBR) before and after the fire. The damaged area was 29.50 km² in total, taking up 1.00-6.19% of five catchments. We then used remote-sensing data (500-m 8-day MODIS evapotranspiration data) and estimated that annual evapotranspiration (AET) would decrease as 0.05-1.56% over the five catchments, as compared to the pre-fire AET (2004-2018). This study highlights the importance of improving our understanding about the impact of wildfire on the local hydrological cycle.