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This study aims to understand the effects of wildfires in sagebrush ecosystem on soil properties by examining connections between Soil Water Repellency (SWR), reflectance, and chemistry. Ash and burned soil samples were collected after performing laboratory burns of three common sagebrush plants: sagebrush, rabbitbrush, and bitterbrush. The collected samples were analyzed for their physical properties, including SWR measured by Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) and Apparent Contact Angle (ACA), and solar spectral reflectance in the wavelength range of 350 to 2500 nm. Chemical functional groups of the samples were analyzed using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. WDPT and ACA values were in the range of 1 to 600 s and ~10° to 88°, respectively, for all three tested fuels. The FTIR analysis showed a decrease (~2 to 4 times) in the ratio of COO−/C=C signals for the burned soil samples compared to the unburned soil samples. Overall, increase in temperature and ACA levels for the samples of burned and burned soil from a 2 cm depth led to increased formation of non-polar compounds with C=C functional groups, and decarboxylation.

Over the past two decades, wildfire activity in the western USA has increased, especially in California. Wildfires not only affect air quality but also the environment at large, including chemical and physical properties of fire-affected soils, which are of great interest for prediction and mitigation of hydrological consequences. Hyperspectral reflectance can be used to remotely assess the effects of fires on soil and here we use it to characterize soils before and after three 2021 California wildfires (Dixie, Beckwourth Complex, and Caldor fire). We acquired reflectance spectra and compared changes in these spectra with changes in the chemistry of analyzed soils. For all three fires, the results show that 700 nm wavelength reflectance of ash samples collected 1 and 1.5 years after fire decreased between 36% and 76% compared to that of samples collected right after the fires. Additionally, significantly higher visible reflectance has been found for unburned compared to burned soil samples in each region that was studied. Infrared transmission measurements were used to characterize the carbonate content of soil and ash samples demonstrating a mostly positive relationship between carbonate content and visible reflectance, indicating a possible cause and effect between the two.

Wildfires significantly alter watershed functions, particularly the mobilization of organic carbon (OC). This study investigated OC mobility and the physicochemical characteristics of wildfire-impacted soils and ashes from the northern California and Nevada fires (Dixie, Beckworth, Caldor). Organic carbon in wildfire-derived ashes (9.2–57.3 mg/g) generally exceeded levels in the background soils (4.3–24.4 mg/g), except at the Dixie fire sites. The mobile OC fraction varied from 0.0093 to 0.029 in ashes and 0.010 to 0.065 in soils, though no consistent trend was observed between the ashes and soils. Notably, the ash samples displayed lower OC mobility compared with the soils beneath them. A negative correlation was found between the mobile OC fraction and bulk OC content. Wildfire increased the total amount of mobile OC substantially by 5.2–574% compared to the background soils. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra confirmed the presence of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs), which correlated with observed redox reactivity. Additionally, X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging revealed that Fe(II) oxidation in soils beneath the ashes may have enhanced the OC mobility, likely driven by pyrogenic carbon and free radicals. These findings enhance our understanding of post-wildfire OC mobilization and the impact of ash–soil physicochemical properties on watershed health.

Recently, wildfire activity and intensity in the western U.S. have greatly increased, mainly due to a warming climate, population growth, land use changes, forest management, and fuel accumulation. Wildfires modify physical and chemical soil properties and can cause the formation of post-fire Soil Water Repellency (SWR), which reduces water infiltration into the soil. This may induce cascading disasters including flooding, land and debris slides, and deterioration of water quality. Despite numerous studies, chemical nature of SWR is still poorly understood, particularly at the molecular level, hindering the ability to accurately predict and mitigate post-fire hazards. Thus, this study aims to understand the effects of wildfires on soil properties through examining connections between Soil Water Repellency (SWR), reflectance spectra, and chemistry. During this study, ash and soil samples were collected after three megafires including Dixie, Beckwourth Complex, and Caldor. In addition, several field- and laboratory-based experiments were conducted on common plants in the sagebrush landscape, as well as on three standard compounds, including abietic, fulvic and hexacosanoic acids, which represent plant wax components and soil organic matter and are known to contribute to SWR. The optical, chemical, and physical properties of all the samples were studied. Optical hyperspectral reflectance spectra (350–2,500 nm) were obtained using natural solar (blue sky) illumination and a spectroradiometer (ASD FieldSpec3), operated in reflectance mode. Physical properties, including SWR were measured with Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) and goniometry methods. Chemical functional groups of organic compounds associated with inducing SWR of the samples were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) Spectroscopy. The results from temperature, reflectance, and SWR measurements were compared with data from chemical analyses of post-fire soil organic species. This work resulted in two publications, nine poster and conference presentations, and three awarded proposals.

While it is well known that wildfires can greatly contribute to soil water repellency by changing soil chemical composition, the mechanisms of these changes are still poorly understood. In the past decade, the number, size, and intensity of wildfires have greatly increased in the western USA. Recent megafires in California (i.e., the Dixie, Beckwourth Complex, Caldor, and Mosquito fires) provided us with an opportunity to characterize pre- and post-fire soils and to study the effects of fires on soil water repellency, soil organic constituents, and connections between the two. Water drop penetration time (WDPT) tests performed in the field showed a significant increase (from <1 s up to >600 s) in WDPT from pre- to post-fire soils. This increase in soil water repellency after fires was confirmed by increases in apparent contact angle (ACA) between 1.1 and 9 times from unburned to burned soils. The chemical characterization of burned soils with high resolution mass spectrometry showed the increased abundance of hydrophobic organics (e.g., PAH-like compounds and organic molecules with a low number of oxygen atoms) as well as the correlation of the average H/C ratio and aromaticity index (AI) with ACA. Most likely, these compounds contribute to post-fire soil water repellency that triggers hydrological effects such as landslides, flooding, and debris flows.