This session will focus on the impact of atmospheric circulation on wildfires for different climates of the world, from the equatorial/tropical region to mid and high-latitudes.

The session will be concentrated on both (i) weather and (ii) climate/climate change, and their influence on wildfire activity. We welcome all submissions related to wildfires, weather and climate, but are particularly interested in the following:

(i) The relation between equatorial/tropical weather systems, monsoons, El Nino and wildfires, particularly in Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and Australia.
(ii) The impact played by large-scale teleconnection patterns (e.g. NAO, PNA, PDO) in terms of the monthly and seasonal scales on mid-latitude wildfire activity in the the USA, Canada and Europe.
(iii) The impact of recent meteorological extreme events, namely heatwaves and droughts, in large wildfires in California and the Mediterranean countries (e.g. Portugal [2003], Spain [2005], France, Italy [2007], Greece [2007], California [2007]).
(iv) Possible changes of global and regional wildfire characteristics as a consequence of climate change.

This session is particularly devoted to synoptic and large scale studies (diagnosis/modeling); therefore, fire propagation models or similar applications that are applicable to only a local scale are out of the scope of the session.

This year we will have Domingos Xavier Viegas as the solicited speaker. Domingos Xavier Viegas is a full professor of the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. He has a degree in mechanical engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico and a Ph.D. in aerodynamics from the University of Coimbra. Domingos Viegas has coordinated numerous trans-Europe research projects and hosted several international fire conferences. He also has written numerous articles on fire spread and fire management. He is the coordinator of the Centre for Studies on Forest Fires, a member of the International Association of Wildland Fire and of the Editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Wildland Fire.

We foresee a lively oral and poster session and look forward to your submissions on wildfires, weather and climate.