Climatologia de superfície do Índice Hot Dry Windy (HDW) sobre Portugal continental. Análise de casos de estudo

Abstract

The HDW index was implemented by IPMA in 2023 as an experimental product. Given it’s novelty, in order to build up knowledge and gain sensitivity over the index temporal and spatial variability the index climatology was computed for the period 1990-2022 and the results analyzed. As a complement of this analysis the index was evaluated during forest fire events in Portugal. This work will present the HDW index surface climatology and it’s behavior during the two biggest forest fires that occur in Portugal Mainland in 2023: the Sarzedas and Odemira forest fires. The climatology was computed using ERA5 reanalysis data. The case studies were performed using hourly data from the ECMWF model, 9 km resolution, and the AROME, 2.5 km resolutions, for comparison purposes. The HDW behavior during these events were analyzed at the surface and at pressure levels.