Remote Sensing Forest Fires: Before and After Rob Gaboy

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Remote Sensing Forest FiresBefore and
AfterRob Gaboy Aimee Treutlein
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Outline

• Why remote sensing is useful
• Current methods problems with them
• Future of remote sensing
• LIDAR
• Landsat
• AVHRR
• ASTER
• Hyperspectral satellites

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Why?

• Human population
• Environmental planning
• More cost/time efficient than current methods
• Better understanding
• Detailed mapping
• Improved accuracy

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Current Methods

• Aerial photography
• Field measurements and mapping
• Passive remote sensing
• Medium spatial resolution multi-spectral satellite

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Aerial Photography Problems

• Limited number of bands
• Limited coverage
• Time consuming
• Cant take photos as often
• Development cost
• Difficulty assessing fuel
• subjective

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Problems in the Field

• Time consuming
• Accessibility issues
• Subjective
• Costly
• Human and instrument
• Low updating frequency

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Passive Sensors

• Effectiveness
• Cant see understory
• Depends on intended application

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Medium Resolution

• Superficial observations
• Reflectance
• Rely on field obs

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LIDAR

• Light Detection and Ranging
• Penetrability
• Accuracy
• Data computed
• Applications

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Landsat

• Multispectral
• visible and mid-infrared
• High resolution
• Surface/Canopy characteristics
• Vegetation categories
• Recalibrate

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AVHRR

• Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer
• Originally Met. Satellite
• Multispectral
• visible and thermal infrared
• Long-term monitoring
• Remote and isolated areas
• Restricted

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ASTER

• Multispectral
• visible and near-infrared telescope
• Vegetation
• Mapping fuel characteristics
• Quantitative accuracy

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Hyperspectral

• Directly related analysis
• Map vegetation
• Species mapping
• Vegetation classification
• Preventative measure
• Limited spatial coverage

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Conclusions

• Better than aerial/ground obs
• Dont use alone
• Need for surface info
• Most cost efficient
• Helpful in mapping and analyzing
• both before and after
• Dont generalize, need to know underlying process

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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/GlobalFir
  e/fire_5.html
• http//www.eduspace.esa.int/subdocument/default.as
  p?document353