Assessment of the suitability of drought descriptions for wildfires under various humid temperate climates in Japan

This study explores the suitability of different drought descriptions for wildfires under various humid temperate climates in Japan. Based on wildfire data from 1995 to 2012, statistical and correlation analyses were conducted to examine the performance of effective humidity (EH) and soil moisture (SM) as indicators of atmospheric and soil drought. EH is used for nationwide wildfire and drought warnings in Japan. The results show that EH is significantly influenced by seasonal and regional factors, with its ability to assess drought for
wildfire varying accordingly, whereas SM demonstrates a more consistent ability to assess drought across different seasons and regions.