Japan Airlines (JAL) has been spotting and reporting forest fires burning in the Siberian taiga (the coniferous forest zone) along its flight courses between Japan and Europe since 2003. This cooperation is useful for research into the early detection of fires aimed at preventing their spread. The company reported 167 forest fires in Siberia, three in Alaska, and two in Indonesia (Kalimantan Island) during the 64 days from June 11 to August 13, 2007.

A project to detect and prevent the spread of Siberian forest fires is being spearheaded by Hokkaido University and pursued in collaboration with the University of Alaska and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. JAL has been observing fires during this period in the areas specified by Professor Masami Fukuda at Hokkaido University.

According to Professor Fukuda, when a large number of forest fires break out in Siberia, a vast area of forest more than half the size of Japan can be lost to fire in a single year, releasing large amounts of CO2 into the air. He also notes that because CO2 escapes from the fire-devastated earth and methane is released from thawed permafrost, these forests might be functioning as one of the world's largest net carbon producers rather than as a carbon sink. He rates JAL's monitoring efforts during its regular flights as very useful for corroborating the information provided by artificial satellites, which are most effective for fire detection.

A global environment committee was established in JAL's Flight Operations Division in April 2006. The committee has been enthusiastically taking part in the project, and strengthening its cooperative system with researchers to improve the reporting format. A pilot belonging to the committee says that at an altitude of 10,000 meters, it is possible to see for a radius of about 400 kilometers, given good visibility conditions.

http://www.jal.com/en/environment/social/social03.html
http://www.jal.com/en/

Posted: 2008/04/05 09:12:04 AM

TAG Ecosystem , Global warming , Non-manufacturing industry