Remote Sensing Forest Fires:Before and After

Rob Gaboy & Aimee Treutlein

Outline

• Why remote sensing is useful

• Current methods & problems with them

• Future of remote sensing– LIDAR– Landsat– AVHRR– ASTER– Hyperspectral satellites

Why?

• Human population

• Environmental planning

• More cost/time efficient than current methods

• Better understanding

• Detailed mapping

• Improved accuracy

Current Methods

• Aerial photography

• Field measurements and mapping

• Passive remote sensing

• Medium spatial resolution multi-spectral satellite

Aerial Photography Problems

• Limited number of bands

• Limited coverage

• Time consuming

• Can’t take photos as often

• Development cost

• Difficulty assessing fuel– subjective

Problems in the Field

• Time consuming

• Accessibility issues

• Subjective

• Costly– Human and instrument

• Low updating frequency

Passive Sensors

• Effectiveness

• Can’t see understory

• Depends on intended application

Medium Resolution

• Superficial observations

• Reflectance

• Rely on field obs

LIDAR

• Light Detection and Ranging

• Penetrability

• Accuracy

• Data computed

• Applications

Landsat

• Multispectral– visible and mid-infrared

• High resolution

• Surface/Canopy characteristics

• Vegetation categories

• Recalibrate

AVHRR

• Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

• Originally Met. Satellite

• Multispectral– visible and thermal infrared

• Long-term monitoring

• Remote and isolated areas

• Restricted

ASTER

• Multispectral– visible and near-infrared telescope

• Vegetation

• Mapping fuel characteristics

• Quantitative accuracy

Hyperspectral

• Directly related analysis

• Map vegetation

• Species mapping

• Vegetation classification

• Preventative measure

• Limited spatial coverage

Conclusions• Better than aerial/ground obs

• Don’t use alone

• Need for surface info

• Most cost efficient

• Helpful in mapping and analyzing– both before and after

• Don’t generalize, need to know underlying process

References

• Remote Sensing Techniques to Assess Active Fire Characteristics and Post-Fire Effects. Lentile, Leigh B. et al., International Journal of Wildland Fire, 2006, 15, 319-345

• Evaluating ASTER Satellite Imagery and Gradient Modeling for Mapping and Characterizing Wildland Fire Fuels. Falkowski, Michael J. et al., ASPRS Annual Conference Proceedings, May 2004

• Assessing Fuel Loads using Remote Sensing Technical Report Summary. Roff, A. et al., The University of New South Wales, 2005

• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalFire/fire_5.html

• http://www.eduspace.esa.int/subdocument/default.asp?document=353