Active Fire Detection for Fire Emergency Management: Potential and Limitations for the Operational Use of Remote Sensing

The use of the mid-infrared and thermal bands of sensors on board airborne platforms and satellites permits the detection of active fires on the Earths surface. This application has been available to the fire-fighting community for many years. However, limitations in the fire detection capabilities of the sensors and/or the lack of adequate re-visit frequency have prevented the use of these systems for operational forest fire-fighting. In addition to mobile systems, remote sensors positioned on fixed fire-watch towers have also been used for active fire detection. These instruments are often positioned in strategic look-out places to provide continuous monitoring of the surrounding areas. They locate fires through the detection of either hot spots (areas of increased temperature in comparison to the background) or smoke plumes produced by the fires. This article evaluates the use of existing remote sensing systems for active fire detection, with emphasis on the applicability of these systems for fire emergency management and fire-fighting. Long-range remote sensing devices on board satellites are considered, airborne systems are assessed, and short-range fire detection instruments on fixed ground platforms are reviewed. A short introduction to forthcoming satellite systems, which will be based on the combined use of several small satellites, is presented. The advantages and drawbacks of the different systems are evaluated from a fire management perspective.     

A comparison of forest fire indices for predicting fire risk in contrasting climates in China

The relationships between fire danger indices and fire risk have been extensively studied in many regions of the world. This work uses partial effect analysis in semiparametric logistic regression models to assess the nonlinear relationships among location, day, altitude, fire danger indices, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and fire ignition from 1996 to 2008 in four different climatic regions in China. The four regions are North China (NR), Northeast China (NE), Southeast China (SE), and Southwest China (SW). The three main results are as follows: First, different fire danger indices are selected as significant variables dependent on the region. The inter-regional difference could be partially explained by difference in local weather and vegetation conditions. Second, spatial location exerts highly significant effects in all four regions. NDVI values are selected as explained variable for NR, NE, and SE on fire ignitions. On a daily scale, altitude influences fire ignition for NR, SE, and SW. Third, the robustness of the probability models used in NE, SE, and SW is better than that in NR on a daily scale. The semiparametric logistic regression model used in this study is useful for assessing the ability of fire danger indices to estimate probabilities of fire ignition on a daily scale. This study encourages further research on assessing the predictive ability of fire danger indices developed at other temporal and spatial scales in China.     

新疆煤田火烧区特征及其勘探灭火问题的探讨

煤田火烧区的存在，给勘探、建井、开矿均带来一定的危害。本文重点论述新疆煤田火烧区的特征，煤田火烧区的危害和煤田火烧区的主要形成因素，经过各种勘探方法的对比，选用地面物探方法（磁法和自然电场法）查清了煤层火烧区的分布范围和煤层地下燃烧状态。物探成果资料经钻孔验证技术效果良好，根据煤层高温燃烧区定期观测剖面测定结果，对新疆煤田火烧区储量的损失作了科学的推算。对煤田高温燃烧区灭火方法作了简要说明，并对灭火效果提出了一定见解。对灭火工程的验收程序提出了合理化建议。     

火灾作用下隧道衬砌结构变形理论分析模型

火灾作用下衬砌材料力学性能的劣化会引起隧道结构的损伤,变形量的增大,危害隧道运营安全。基于几何和材料非线性理论,综合考虑火灾作用下衬砌结构中温度的非线性分布,材料力学性能的高温劣化及热膨胀等因素的影响,提出用于描述火灾作用下隧道衬砌结构变形行为的理论分析模型。在此基础上,给出半圆形隧道在火灾作用下截面转角及径向变形的解析解,分析火灾持续时间对衬砌变形行为的影响规律,可为隧道结构防火设计及灾后评估提供理论依据。     

Identifying wildland fire ignition factors through sensitivity analysis of a neural network

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) show a significant ability to discover patterns in data that are too obscure to go through standard statistical methods. Data of natural phenomena usually exhibit significantly unpredictable non-linearity, but the robust behavior of a neural network makes it perfectly adaptable to environmental models such as a wildland fire danger rating system. These systems have been adopted by many developed countries that have invested in wildland fire prevention, and thus civil protection agencies are able to identify areas with high probabilities of fire ignition and resort to necessary actions. Since one of the drawbacks of ANNs is the interpretation of the final model in terms of the importance of variables, this article presents the results of sensitivity analysis performed in a back-propagation neural network (BPN) to distinguish the influence of each variable in a fire ignition risk scheme developed for Lesvos Island in Greece. Four different methods were utilized to evaluate the three fire danger indices developed within the above scheme; three of the methods are based on network’s weights after the training procedure (i.e., the percentage of influence—PI, the weight product—WP, and the partial derivatives—PD methods), and one is based on the logistic regression (LR) model between BPN inputs and observed outputs. Results showed that the occurrence of rainfall, the 10-h fuel moisture content, and the month of the year parameter are the most significant variables of the Fire Weather, Fire Hazard, and Fire Risk Indices, respectively. Relative humidity, elevation, and day of the week have a small contribution to fire ignitions in the study area. The PD method showed the best performance in ranking variables’ importance, while performance of the rest of the methods was influenced by the number of input parameters and the magnitude of their importance. The results can be used by local forest managers and other decision makers dealing with wildland fires to take the appropriate preventive measures by emphasizing on the important factors of fire occurrence.     

The relationship between fire behaviour measures and community loss: an exploratory analysis for developing a bushfire severity scale

Current fire danger scales do not adequately reflect the potential destructive force of a bushfire in Australia and, therefore, do not provide fire prone communities with an adequate warning for the potential loss of human life and property. To determine options for developing a bushfire severity scale based on community impact and whether a link exists between the energy release rate (power) of a fire and community loss, this paper reviewed observations of 79 wildfires (from 1939 to 2009) across Victoria and other southern states of Australia. A methodology for estimating fire power based on fuel loading, fire size and progression rate is presented. McArthur??s existing fire danger indices (FDIs) as well as fuel- and slope-adjusted FDIs were calculated using fire weather data. Analysis of possible relationships between fire power, FDIs, rate of spread and Byram??s fireline intensity and community loss was performed using exposure as a covariate. Preliminary results showed that a stronger relationship exists between community loss and the power of the fire than between loss and FDI, although fuel-adjusted FDI was also a good predictor of loss. The database developed for this study and the relationships established are essential for undertaking future studies that require observations of past fire behaviour and losses and also to form the basis of developing a new severity scale.     

Time series analysis of CO concentrations from an Eastern Kentucky coal fire

Coal fires in natural outcrops, in abandoned and active coal mines, and in coal and coal-refuse piles are responsible for the uncontrolled emissions of gases, including CO, CO₂, H₂S, hydrocarbons, and volatile aromatics. Typically, measurements of gases at a mine vent are made over a short time interval, perhaps no more than 10 min, including the time for replicate measurements. Such timing provides little information on longer-term variations in emissions, although comparisons of seasonal measurements suggest such changes do occur. To address this problem, we placed temperature and CO data loggers in coal fire vents to collect time series measurements for a period of up to three weeks. For one experiment, 11 days of data at one-minute intervals indicated that the CO emissions were generally in the 400–550 ppmv range. However near daily depressions in CO concentrations occurred and in some cases fell below 50 ppmv; followed by an increase to ~ 700–800 ppmv; in turn followed by a return to the ambient conditions. Data for a separate 21-day collection period in a different vent of the same fire exhibited similar trends, albeit at a higher CO concentration. The drop in CO concentration may be associated with a meteorologically-driven inhalation cycle of the fire, whereby air diluted the combustion generated CO. We propose this was followed by an increase in the intensity of the fire due to increased O₂ from the inhaled air, producing increased CO concentrations, before settling back to the ambient conditions.     

Fire danger assessment with remote sensing: a case study in Northern China

Every year several million hectares of forest and grassland in China are affected by wildfires. The majority of wildfires occur in the northern part of China, where grasslands and forests are ubiquitous. A critical step toward the protection of life, property, and natural resources from wildfires is the development of a fire danger rating system. This paper presents a new method to assess fire danger that capitalizes on the abundance of environmental data available via remote sensing and applies this new method to the northern part of China. Using an analytical hierarchy process, a fire danger index was developed based on five environmental factors that are known to affect fire frequency and severity, including land surface temperature, vegetation curing, equivalent water thickness, vegetation continuity degree, and fuel weight. Data for these five factors were derived from satellite imagery, instead of point data, allowing for predictions to be made over a large geographic area. Fire danger ratings were then mapped for the region based on the fire danger index. In addition, the accuracy of the fire danger index was evaluated by statistical analyses. The fire danger index was significantly correlated with air temperature and precipitation, suggesting that changes in these two environmental variables will affect the predictions of the index.     

Reconstructing past fire regimes: methods,applications, and relevance to fire management and conservation

Biomass burning and resulting fire regimes are major drivers of vegetation changes and of ecosystem dynamics. Understanding past fire dynamics and their relationship to these factors is thus a key factor in preserving and managing present biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Unfortunately, our understanding of the disturbance dynamics of past fires is incomplete, and many open questions exist relevant to these concepts and the related methods. In this paper we describe the present status of the fire-regime concept, discuss the notion of the fire continuum and related proxies, and review the most important existing approaches for reconstructing fire history at centennial to millennial scales. We conclude with a short discussion of selected directions for future research that may lead to a better understanding of past fire-regime dynamics. In particular, we suggest that emphasis should be laid on (1) discriminating natural from anthropogenic fire-regime types, (2) improving combined analysis of fire and vegetation reconstructions to study long-term fire ecology, and (3) overcoming problems in defining temporal and spatial scales of reference, which would allow better use of past records to gain important insights for landscape, fire and forest management.     

Long-term Trends in Vegetation Dynamics and Forest Fires in Brandenburg (Germany) Under a Changing Climate

The human influence on environmental processes has been described for many types of land use. One of the oldest tools to modify people’s environment is fire, which has dominated fire regimes in many regions over long time scales. This paper focuses on a German case study region, where 80–90% of the fires are human-caused. The objectives of this study are the application of the Regional Fire Model (Reg-FIRM), a process-based fire model that is incorporated into the LPJ Dynamic Global Vegetation Model, to temperate forests under historic climate conditions and to explore ranges of potential impacts of future climate change on fire and vegetation dynamics. Simulation experiments are designed to simulate historic fire pattern and to explore influences of vegetation on fire. Simulated fire pattern reproduced the observed average fire conditions reasonably well although with a smaller amplitude. This leads to underestimation of extreme fire years as well as an overestimation of low fire years. Vegetation composition influenced fire spread conditions in the temperate forest and had little impact on fire ignition potentials, except when only broad-leaved deciduous forests were assumed. Fire is likely to change under climate change conditions. Simulated experiments were conducted to explore the effects of climate change and rising CO₂ concentration given the potential natural vegetation as the best-case for Brandenburg. Three GCM scenarios predicting different future climatic changes were applied, and resulted in quantitatively different future fire patterns. Depending on future precipitation pattern and the influence of the CO₂ effect on canopy conductance and thus litter moisture, fire was predicted to either decrease or slightly increase in Brandenburg forests, but the burnt area would not exceed current, extreme fire years. Generally, fire changes had no implication for vegetation composition in Brandenburg, but reduced vegetation carbon gain after 2050. In the HadCM3 application, simulated increase in grass cover due to a large burnt area after 2075 accelerated fire spread conditions, thus still increasing the burnt area, while climatic fire danger and number of fires already began to decline. These interactions underline the importance to consider the full range of fire processes and interactions with vegetation dynamics in a simulation model.     

新生代增温情景下自然火历史的研究

自然火是地球系统的重要组成部分,与气候、植被关系紧密。全球增温情景下,自然火的演化规律和控制因素已经成为学术界的研究热点,通过整理分析自然火实际监测记录、模型模拟结果以及古记录反映的自然火历史,发现还存在一些亟待解决的问题:全球不同增温情景下自然火增多还是减少?其控制因素如何改变?本文选取距今最近的地质历史时期新生代中的典型增温期"中中新世气候适宜期"和"全新世大暖期",对其自然火研究进行分析总结,归纳得出温度是增温情景下自然火的重要控制因素,但是不同地区自然火控制因素有所不同,雨热条件的季节分配、植被类型的演替、雷电和火山活动等因素也对自然火有重要影响。季风区气候变幅大、植被类型丰富,其自然火演化及控制因素具有复杂性,是自然火研究的重要区域,建议在今后研究中,在东亚季风区选择涵盖未来百年可能增温幅度的理想沉积记录,对其记录的自然火历史、增温幅度、植被演替进行系统研究,进而探讨未来增温情景下自然火的演化规律和控制因素。     

Use of remote sensing-derived variables in developing a forest fire danger forecasting system

Our aim was to develop a remote sensing-based forest fire danger forecasting system (FFDFS) and its implementation in forecasting 2011 fire season in the Canadian province of Alberta. The FFDFS used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-derived 8-day composites of surface temperature, normalized multiband drought index, and normalized difference vegetation index as input variables. In order to eliminate the data gaps in the input variables, we propose a gap-filling technique by considering both of the spatial and temporal dimensions. These input variables were calculated during the i period and then integrated to forecast the fire danger conditions into four categories (i.e., very high, high, moderate, and low) during the i + 1 period. It was observed that 98.19 % of the fire fell under “very high” to “moderate” danger classes. The performance of this system was also demonstrated its ability to forecast the worst fires occurred in Slave Lake and Fort McMurray region during mid-May 2011. For example, 100 and 94.0 % of the fire spots fell under “very high” to “high” danger categories for Slave Lake and Fort McMurray regions, respectively.     

国产高分系列卫星在森林火灾应急处置中的全流程应用——以四川九龙县三岩龙乡“4·08”森林火灾为例

四川西部高山峡谷地貌发育,山高林密且地质环境恶劣,区内林草资源丰富,森林火灾多发、易发、频发,灾害应急处置难度大,防控任务重。国产高分系列卫星影像具有时空分辨率高、载荷类型多、机动性强、幅宽范围大、成像迅速等优点,对川西地区森林防灭火、灾害应急处置及防灾减灾等有明显优势。以2021年四川九龙县三岩龙乡“4·08”森林火灾为例,利用国产高分系列卫星数据分别对森林火灾初期、中期及晚期开展应急处置,包括快速解译林火火灾救援要素(初期)、感知亮温异常态势(中期)、跟踪监测过火区动态(中期)、结合火场需求提供应急扑救部署建议(中期)、开展灾损解译评估(晚期)及火后泥石流易发性评价(火后)等,结果表明国产高分系列卫星对森林火灾应急处置的全流程应用具有实践指导意义。     

Monitoring of fire incidences in vegetation types and Protected Areas of India: Implications on carbon emissions

Carbon emissions released from forest fires have been identified as an environmental issue in the context of global warming. This study provides data on spatial and temporal patterns of fire incidences, burnt area and carbon emissions covering natural vegetation types (forest, scrub and grassland) and Protected Areas of India. The total area affected by fire in the forest, scrub and grasslands have been estimated as 48765.45, 6540.97 and 1821.33 km ², respectively, in 2014 using Resourcesat-2 AWiFS data. The total CO ₂ emissions from fires of these vegetation types in India were estimated to be 98.11 Tg during 2014. The highest emissions were caused by dry deciduous forests, followed by moist deciduous forests. The fire season typically occurs in February, March, April and May in different parts of India. Monthly CO ₂ emissions from fires for different vegetation types have been calculated for February, March, April and May and estimated as 2.26, 33.53, 32.15 and 30.17 Tg, respectively. Protected Areas represent 11.46% of the total natural vegetation cover of India. Analysis of fire occurrences over a 10-year period with two types of sensor data, i.e., AWiFS and MODIS, have found fires in 281 (out of 614) Protected Areas of India. About 16.78 Tg of CO ₂ emissions were estimated in Protected Areas in 2014. The natural vegetation types of Protected Areas have contributed for burnt area of 17.3% and CO ₂ emissions of 17.1% as compared to total natural vegetation burnt area and emissions in India in 2014. 9.4% of the total vegetation in the Protected Areas was burnt in 2014. Our results suggest that Protected Areas have to be considered for strict fire management as an effective strategy for mitigating climate change and biodiversity conservation.     

Fire Danger Monitoring Using ERS-1 SAR Images in the Case of Northern Boreal Forests

Research was carried out to assess the potential of imaging radar systems formonitoring forest fire danger. In Canada, daily forest fire danger ratings are generated by the Canadian ForestFire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS), based on estimates of fire weather indices (FWI) and measured foliar moisturecontent (FMC). To evaluate the potential of imaging radar, an experiment was conducted using test sitesconsisting of jack pine, black spruce and white spruce stands located in the MacKenzie river basin, NorthwestTerritories, Canada. Radar image intensity values from ERS-1 SAR imagery collected over these stands in 1994 werecompared to FWI indices and FMC data. FWI indices were calculated using data from local weather stations.Seasonal trends in radar backscatter (⁰) were shown to correlate with temperature and precipitation. Significant relationships were found between ⁰ and FWI codes and indices, particularly in thecase of the black spruce stands, with slow-drying fuels, like duff moisture code (DMC), drought code (DC), and build-upindex (BUI). Rates of changes in ⁰were related to rates of changes in FMC, particularly in the case ofthe jack pine stands for old FMC and in the case of white spruce stands for composite FMC.     

高大空间消防电气设计——山西省图书馆火灾报警系统设计实例简介

文章介绍了山西省图书馆火灾报警系统设计实例。针对建筑物中庭的高大空间,采用双波段火灾探测器,有效探测火灾火焰和火灾烟气;采用微机信息处理系统构成了集火灾识别、火灾定位、现场监控、消防炮扑救于一体的火灾安全监控及联动灭火系统;同时辅以搭建于闭路电视监控系统平台上的视频火灾安全监控系统,满足了图书馆建筑对于早期火灾报警的特殊需要。     

关于克拉玛依市消防给水问题的思考

根据克拉玛依市消防特点,提出克伦玛依由于气候严寒,冬季不适合使用消化栓。概括消防水鹤的功能与特点,分析消防水鹤在克拉玛依市的适用性。在此基础上提出解决问题的方法。即用消防水鹤代替消火栓。规划了消防水鹤在克拉玛依市的布局。     

The ecological role of fire in the Jackson Hole area,northwestern Wyoming

Fire-history investigations in the Jackson Hole area of northwestern Wyoming reveal that most current stands of aspen and lodgepole pine regenerated following extensive fires between 1840 and 1890 and that widespread fires occurred in the 1600s and 1700s. White man's major effect on the fire incidence has been the successful suppression during the past 30–80 yr. Successional changes in the absence of fire include the deterioration of aspen stands, massive invasions of subalpine fir in lodgepole pine stands, great increase in conifer cover, heavy fuel buildups in lodgepole pine and Douglas fir stands, and increase in sagebrush and other shrubs. Steps are being taken, starting in 1972, to allow fire to play a more natural role in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Teton National Forest plans experimental prescribed burning to determine whether fire can stimulate successful aspen regeneration in the presence of large numbers of wintering elk.     

Millennial‐scale fire and vegetation history from a mesic hardwood forest of southeastern Wisconsin,USA

High‐resolution charcoal analysis of lake sediment cores was used to reconstruct the fire history from two sites in a mesic hardwood forest of south‐eastern Wisconsin located in the Kettle Moraine State Forest. Pollen data from the region indicate that the sites, which lie within 5 km of each other, have had a consistent presence of mesic hardwood forest for the last 6500 years. A pollen record from one of the sites confirmed the regional vegetation history and the charcoal analysis indicated that fire frequency at each site was temporally linked to regional drought. Periods of high fire occurrence occurred in connection with a region‐wide drought 4200 years ago and, over the last 2000 years, shorter‐scale regional droughts were centred at 1800, 1650, 1100, 1000, 800, 700 and 600 cal a BP. The fire histories indicate that the last 1000 years have had lower fire frequencies than the previous 6500 years and suggest that the mesic hardwood forests may be resilient to increases in fire that may result from future climate change. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validation of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) fire monitoring product using ground observations over Turkey

Validation of the active fire monitoring (FIR) product from Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager sensor of Meteosat Second Generation satellite is performed over Turkey. Ground truth data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for the years 2007, 2008, and 2009 is used by taking the active fire months of April–September into consideration. The contingency tables are obtained on a monthly basis and categorical statistics of probability of detection (POD) and false alarm rate (FAR) are derived. The results are introduced for each subclass, namely probable, possible, and combined cases. The highest POD amounts of 8.5, 1.93, and 9.4 % are obtained for the possible, probable, and combined cases, respectively, with the lowest FAR amounts of 70.9, 4.5, and 86.1 % for the same categories. FIR product validation with respect to predefined burnt area thresholds is introduced in the second part of the study in order to investigate burnt area effect in active fire detection. Increasing POD values with respect to burnt area amount is obtained with relatively higher values in probable than possible type. On the other hand, FAR variation is observed to be not correlated with the burnt area amount.