Modeling of multi-strata forest fire severity using Landsat TM Data

Most of fire severity studies use field measures of composite burn index (CBI) to represent forest fire severity and fit the relationships between CBI and Landsat imagery derived differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) to predict and map fire severity at unsampled locations. However, less attention has been paid on the multi-strata forest fire severity, which represents fire activities and ecological responses at different forest layers. In this study, using field measured fire severity across five forest strata of dominant tree, intermediate-sized tree, shrub, herb, substrate layers, and the aggregated measure of CBI as response variables, we fit statistical models with predictors of Landsat TM bands, Landsat derived NBR or dNBR, image differencing, and image ratioing data. We model multi-strata forest fire in the historical recorded largest wildfire in California, the Big Sur Basin Complex fire. We explore the potential contributions of the post-fire Landsat bands, image differencing, image ratioing to fire severity modeling and compare with the widely used NBR and dNBR. Models using combinations of post-fire Landsat bands perform much better than NBR, dNBR, image differencing, and image ratioing. We predict and map multi-strata forest fire severity across the whole Big Sur fire areas, and find that the overall measure CBI is not optimal to represent multi-strata forest fire severity.     

What governs the presence of residual vegetation in boreal wildfires?

Wildfires are frequent boreal forest disturbances in Canada, and emulating their patterns with forest harvesting has emerged as a common forest management goal. Wildfires contain many patches of residual vegetation of various size, shape, and composition; understanding their characteristics provides insights for improved emulation criteria. We studied the occurrence of residual vegetation within eleven boreal wildfire events in a natural setting; fires ignited by lightning, no suppression efforts, and no prior anthropogenic disturbances. Relative importance of the measurable geo-environmental factors and their marginal effects on residual presence are studied using Random Forests. These factors included distance from natural firebreaks (wetland, bedrock and non-vegetated areas, and water), land cover, and topographic variables (elevation, slope, and ruggedness index). We present results at spatial resolutions ranging from four to 64 m while emphasizing four and 32 m since they mimic IKONOS- and Landsat-type images. Natural firebreak features, especially the proximity to wetlands, are among the most important variables that explain the likelihood residual occurrence. The majority of residual vegetation areas are concentrated within 100 m of wetlands. Topographic variables, typically important in rugged terrain, are less important in explaining the presence of residuals within our study fires.     

A satellite data driven approach to monitoring and reporting fire disturbance and recovery across boreal and temperate forests

The regular and consistent measurements provided by Earth observation satellites can support the monitoring and reporting of forest indicators. Although substantial scientific literature espouses the capabilities of satellites in this area, the techniques are under-utilised in national reporting, where there is a preference for aggregating ad hoc data. In this paper, we posit that satellite information, while perhaps of low accuracy at single time steps or across small areas, can produce trends and patterns which are, in fact, more meaningful at regional and national scales. This is primarily due to data consistency over time and space. To investigate this, we use MODIS and Landsat data to explore trends associated with fire disturbance and recovery across boreal and temperate forests worldwide. Our results found that 181 million ha (9 %) of the study area (2 billion ha of forests) was burned between 2001 and 2018, as detected by MODIS satellites. World Wildlife Fund biomes were used for a detailed analysis across several countries. A significant increasing trend in area burned was observed in Mediterranean forests in Chile (8.9 % yr⁻¹), while a significant decreasing trend was found in temperate mixed forests in China (-2.2 % yr⁻¹). To explore trends and patterns in fire severity and forest recovery, we used Google Earth Engine to efficiently sample thousands of Landsat images from 1991 onwards. Fire severity, as measured by the change in the normalized burn ratio (NBR), was found to be generally stable over time; however, a slight increasing trend was observed in the Russian taiga. Our analysis of spectral recovery following wildfire indicated that it was largely dependent on location, with some biomes (particularly in the USA) showing signs that spectral recovery rates have shortened over time. This study demonstrates how satellite data and cloud-computing can be harnessed to establish baselines and reveal trends and patterns, and improve monitoring and reporting of forest indicators at national and global scales.     

Satellite data and geographic information systems for fire and resource management in the Canadian arctic

Abstract

A method of analyzing remotely sensed data, a geographic information system, and an intelligent fire management system have been developed to provide integrated resource data for fire and other resources management. Natural and cultural features were digitized from 1:50,000 topographic maps using a geographic information system (GIS) to cover the 29 communities below the tree line in the western Canadian Arctic. Landsat Thematic Mapper data covering the same area were classified into land cover or fuel types. Detailed information on each fire such as location, area burned, date of discovery, fire number, fire zone, fire class and source of ignition was obtained and added to each map sheet as attribute data. A generalized vegetation cover map using NOAA AVHRR data was also obtained. The Intelligent Fire Management Information System (IFMIS) integrates relational data bases, geographic information display, and expert systems. It also has a spatial analysis procedure for forest fire preparedness planning. Linking the weather to the forest fuels through the Fire Weather Index system (FWI) and the Fire Behaviour Prediction System (FBPS), fire danger and fire behaviour are calculated and displayed, cell‐by‐cell. Values‐at‐risk and fire suppression resources are used in the dispatching and planning component of the system. The planning component allows the user to evaluate the coverage of fire suppression resources under the prevalent forecast fire behaviour conditions. Through the integration of data from the above systems, a set of maps were created which were used to analyze fire behaviour potential, identify fire hazards, and provide a basis for settlement protection strategies within the context of other land use activities such as wildlife harvesting and recreational activities.     

Detecting forest damage after a low-severity fire using remote sensing at multiple scales

Remote sensing technologies are an ideal platform to examine the extent and impact of fire on the landscape. In this study we assess that capacity of the RapidEye constellation and Landsat (Thematic Mapper and Operational Land Imager to map fine-scale burn attributes for a small, low severity prescribed fire in a dry Western Canadian forest. Estimates of burn severity from field data were collated into a simple burn index and correlated with a selected suite of common spectral vegetation indices. Burn severity classes were then derived to map fire impacts and estimate consumed woody surface fuels (diameter ≥2.6 cm). All correlations between the simple burn index and vegetation indices produced significant results (p < 0.01), but varied substantially in their overall accuracy. Although the Landsat Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index provided the best regression fit (R² = 0.56), results suggested that RapidEye provided much more spatially detailed estimates of tree damage (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index, R² = 0.51). Consumption estimates of woody surface fuels ranged from 3.38 ± 1.03 Mg ha⁻¹ to 11.73 ± 1.84 Mg ha⁻¹, across four derived severity classes with uncertainties likely a result of changing foliage moisture between the before and after fire images. While not containing spectral information in the short wave infrared, the spatial variability provided by the RapidEye imagery has potential for mapping and monitoring fine scale forest attributes, as well as the potential to resolve fire damage at the individual tree level.     

Using cumulative NOAA-AVHRR spectral indices for estimating fire danger codes in northern boreal forests

In Canada, fire danger is rated by the Canadian forest fire danger rating system (CFFDRS). One of its components is the fire weather index (FWI) system, which has among others the drought code (DC). DC is used here as a surrogate of dead forest fuel moisture. DC values were computed from weather data acquired between 1993 and 1999 and compared to 10-day composite NOAA-AVHRR images acquired over Canadian northern boreal forests. They were yearly correlated with single compositing period and cumulative NDVI and surface temperature (ST) NOAA-AVHRR data. Correlations with cumulative spectral variables were stronger than with single compositing period variables and the best correlations occurred for the spring compositing periods (R between 0.57 and 0.80). Spring DC models using both single compositing period and cumulative spectral variables were established. Surface temperature-based indices were more often used in the models than NDVI-based indices. The models were stronger for dry or normal years than for wet years. Limitations and possible improvements of the models are discussed.     

Remote sensing of fire severity: assessing the performance of the normalized burn ratio

Several studies have used satellite data to map different levels of fire severity present within burned areas. Increasingly, fire severity has been estimated using a spectral index called the normalized burn ratio (NBR). This letter assesses the performance of the NBR against ideal requirements of a spectral index designed to measure fire severity. According to index theory, the NBR would be optimal for quantifying fire severity if the trajectory in spectral feature space caused by different levels of severity occurred perpendicular to the NBR isolines. We assess how well NBR meets this condition using reflectance data sensed before and shortly after fires in the South African savanna, Australian savanna, Russian Federation boreal forest, and South American tropical forest. Although previous studies report high correlation between fire severity measured in the field- and satellite-derived NBR, our results do not provide evidence that the performance of the NBR is optimal in describing fire severity shortly after fire occurrence. Spectral displacements due to burning occur in numerous directions relative to the NBR index isolines, suggesting that the NBR may not be primarily and consistently sensitive to fire severity. Findings suggest that the development of the next generation of methods to estimate fire severity remotely should incorporate knowledge of how fires of different severity displace the position of prefire vegetation in multispectral space.     

Integrating modelling and remote sensing to identify ecosystem performance anomalies in the boreal forest,Yukon River Basin,Alaska

Abstract

High-latitude ecosystems are exposed to more pronounced warming effects than other parts of the globe. We develop a technique to monitor ecological changes in a way that distinguishes climate influences from disturbances. In this study, we account for climatic influences on Alaskan boreal forest performance with a data-driven model. We defined ecosystem performance anomalies (EPA) using the residuals of the model and made annual maps of EPA. Most areas (88%) did not have anomalous ecosystem performance for at least 6 of 8 years between 1996 and 2004. Areas with underperforming EPA (10%) often indicate areas associated with recent fires and areas of possible insect infestation or drying soil related to permafrost degradation. Overperforming areas (2%) occurred in older fire recovery areas where increased deciduous vegetation components are expected. The EPA measure was validated with composite burn index data and Landsat vegetation indices near and within burned areas.     

中国林火卫星遥感预警监测技术研究进展

中国目前已形成了地面巡护、近地面监测、航空巡护和卫星监测等4级立体林火监测层次,但森林火灾仍是造成中国森林资源损失、森林生态环境安全和人身伤害的主要林业灾害。为对林火预警监测技术研究提供技术借鉴参考,本文从可燃物参数估测、烟区识别、着火点检测、森林大火燃烧动态监测、森林火烧迹地制图、森林火灾受害程度评价、森林燃烧生物量估算和火后植被恢复监测等8个方面,对中国近二十多年来开展的林火卫星遥感预警监测应用技术的研究进展、存在的技术问题和发展趋势进行了分析,并对构建服务于生态文明建设的天—空—地一体化的林火预警监测技术体系建设进行了展望。     

Monitoring Forest Disturbance in Lesser Khingan Mountains Using MODIS and Landsat TM Time Series from 2000 to 2011

The widespread changes in forest cover caused by climatological and anthropogenic factors can influence the forest ecosystem and climate system to a great extent. With the increasing availability of remote sensing data, monitoring of forest changes at high temporal resolution and on various scales is becoming more realistic. Though several methods based on time series data have been used to detect forest disturbance, there are few studies paying attention to boreal areas where the forest is significant in regulating the global carbon cycle and biogeophysical processes. In this paper, we present a robust method of Breaks Detection Based On Polynomial Model (BDPM) to track boreal (e.g. Lesser Khingan Mountains) deforestation and forest fires based on the MODIS and Landsat TM time series data. Compared with the previous methods, the BDPM offers the following advantages: (1) Fitting of the polynomial model using the seasonal variation of forests in the whole region instead of a single pixel to avoid error accumulation; (2) to avoid confusion between vegetation change due to climate changes and abrupt forest disturbances, we segmented the long-time NDVI series data into 12 seasonal cycles and simulated the temporal variations in each seasonal cycle.     

Modeling potential forest fire danger using modis data

Generation of fire danger maps play a vital role in forest fire management like forest fire research, locating lookout towers, risk assessment and for various other simulation studies. The present study addresses remote sensing and GIS applications in generating fire danger maps for tropical deciduous forests. Fire danger variables such as fuel type, topography, temperature, and relative humidity have been used in modeling fire danger. Information on local climate patterns and past fire records has been used to derive fire frequency map of the study area. Intermediate indices were derived using multiple regressions, where fire frequency data is taken as dependent variable. Results indicate that forests near human settlements are more vulnerable to forest fires.     

Multi‐temporal Mapping of Burned Forest over Canada Using Satellite‐based Change Metrics

Abstract

A procedure for continental‐scale mapping of burned boreal forest at 10‐day intervals was developed for application to coarse resolution satellite imagery. The basis of the technique is a multiple logistic regression model parameterized using 1998 SPOT‐4 VEGETATION clear‐sky composites and training sites selected across Canada. Predictor features consisted of multi‐temporal change metrics based on reflectance and two vegetation indices, which were normalized to the trajectory of background vegetation to account for phenological variation. Spatial‐contextual tests applied to the logistic model output were developed to remove noise and increase the sensitivity of detection. The procedure was applied over Canada for the 1998‐2000 fire seasons and validated using fire surveys and burned area statistics from forest fire management agencies. The area of falsely mapped burns was found to be small (3.5% commission error over Canada), and most burns larger than 10 km2 were accurately detected and mapped (R² = 0.90, P<0.005, n = 91 for burns in two provinces). Canada‐wide satellite burned area was similar, but consistently smaller by comparison to statistics compiled by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (by 17% in 1998, 16% in 1999, and 3% in 2000).     

近实时中高空间分辨率森林火灾监测系统展望

森林火灾是最为常见的灾害之一,严重危及人类生命安全。及时准确监测森林火灾的发生及火场状况,对应对火灾及减少损失至关重要。当前,森林火灾卫星遥感监测主要以低空间分辨率的卫星遥感为主,空间分辨率过低导致无法探测规模较小火灾及掌握详细火场态势。针对这一问题,结合近些年中高空间分辨率卫星观测、共享及处理能力的发展,本文从森林火灾卫星遥感监测的基本原理、当前可用中高空间分辨率卫星数据及其特点、中高分辨率森林着火区监测算法,以及数据共享与云端存储与计算等4个技术环节,对森林火灾中高分辨率卫星遥感监测当前研究现状与存在问题进行了总结,阐述了近实时中高空间分辨率森林火灾监测系统的可行性。近实时中高空间分辨率森林火灾监测系统可对已有低空间分辨率森林火灾监测体系形成重要补充,依托其空间分辨率的优势有助于及早、准确发现小规模火情,进而为森林火灾的防治与管理提供更好支撑。     

Net primary productivity of forest stands in New Hampshire estimated from Landsat and MODIS satellite data

Background

A simulation model that relies on satellite observations of vegetation cover from the Landsat 7 sensor and from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was used to estimate net primary productivity (NPP) of forest stands at the Bartlett Experiment Forest (BEF) in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Results

Net primary production (NPP) predicted from the NASA-CASA model using 30-meter resolution Landsat inputs showed variations related to both vegetation cover type and elevational effects on mean air temperatures. Overall, the highest predicted NPP from the NASA-CASA model was for deciduous forest cover at low to mid-elevation locations over the landscape. Comparison of the model-predicted annual NPP to the plot-estimated values showed a significant correlation of R² = 0.5. Stepwise addition of 30-meter resolution elevation data values explained no more than 20% of the residual variation in measured NPP patterns at BEF. Both the Landsat 7 and the 250-meter resolution MODIS derived mean annual NPP predictions for the BEF plot locations were within ± 2.5% of the mean of plot estimates for annual NPP.

Conclusion

Although MODIS imagery cannot capture the spatial details of NPP across the network of closely spaced plot locations as well as Landsat, the MODIS satellite data as inputs to the NASA-CASA model does accurately predict the average annual productivity of a site like the BEF.     

Forest cover trends from time series Landsat data for the Australian continent

In perennial and natural vegetation systems, monitoring changes in vegetation over time is of fundamental interest for identifying and quantifying impacts of management and natural processes. Subtle changes in vegetation cover can be identified by calculating the trends of a vegetation density index over time. In this paper, we apply such an index-trends approach, which has been developed and applied to time series Landsat imagery in rangeland and woodland environments, to continental-scale monitoring of disturbances within forested regions of Australia. This paper describes the operational methods used for the generation of National Forest Trend (NFT) information, which is a time-series summary providing visual indication of within-forest vegetation changes (disturbance and recovery) over time at 25 m resolution. This result is based on a national archive of calibrated Landsat TM/ETM+ data from 1989 to 2006 produced for Australia's National Carbon Accounting System (NCAS). The NCAS was designed in 1999 initially to provide consistent fine-scale classifications for monitoring forest cover extent and changes (i.e. land use change) over the Australian continent using time series Landsat imagery. NFT information identifies more subtle changes within forested areas and provides a capacity to identify processes affecting forests which are of primary interest to ecologists and land managers. The NFT product relies on the identification of an appropriate Landsat-based vegetation cover index (defined as a linear combination of spectral image bands) that is sensitive to changes in forest density. The time series of index values at a location, derived from calibrated imagery, represents a consistent surrogate to track density changes. To produce the trends summary information, statistical summaries of the index response over time (such as slope and quadratic curvature) are calculated. These calculated index responses of woody vegetation cover are then displayed as maps where the different colours indicate the approximate timing, direction (decline or increase), magnitude and spatial extent of the changes in vegetation cover. These trend images provide a self-contained and easily interpretable summary of vegetation change at scales that are relevant for natural resource management (NRM) and environmental reporting.     

A time-integrated MODIS burn severity assessment using the multi-temporal differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBRMT)

Burn severity is an important parameter in post-fire management. It incorporates both the direct fire impact (vegetation depletion) and ecosystem responses (vegetation regeneration). From a remote sensing perspective, burn severity is traditionally estimated using Landsat's differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR). In this case study of the large 2007 Peloponnese (Greece) wildfires, Landsat dNBR estimates correlated reasonably well with Geo composite burn index (GeoCBI) field data of severity (R² = 0.56). The usage of Landsat imagery is, however, restricted by cloud cover and image-to-image normalization constraints. Therefore a multi-temporal burn severity approach based on coarse spatial, high temporal resolution moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery is presented in this study. The multi-temporal dNBR (dNBR_MT) is defined as the 1-year integrated difference between burned pixels and their unique control pixels. These control pixels were selected based on time series similarity and spatial context and reflect how burned pixels would have behaved in the case no fire had occurred. Linear regression between downsampled Landsat dNBR and dNBR_MT estimates resulted in a moderate-high coefficient of determination R² = 0.54. dNBR_MT estimates are indicative for the change in vegetation productivity due to the fire. This change is considerably higher for forests than for more sparsely vegetated areas like shrub lands. Although Landsat dNBR is superior for spatial detail, MODIS-derived dNBR_MT estimates present a valuable alternative for burn severity mapping at continental to global scale without image availability constraints. This is beneficial to compare trends in burn severity across regions and time. Moreover, thanks to MODIS's repeated temporal sampling, the dNBR_MT accounts for both first- and second-order fire effects.     

Relative suitability of indices derived from Landsat ETM+ and SPOT 5 for detecting fire severity in sagebrush steppe

Remote sensing indices of burn area and fire severity have been developed and tested for forest ecosystems, but not sparsely vegetated, desert shrub-steppe in which large wildfires are a common occurrence and a major issue for land management. We compared the performance of remote sensing indices for detecting burn area and fire severity with extensive ground-based cover assessments made before and after the prescribed burning of a 3 km² shrub-steppe area. The remote sensing indices were based on either Landsat 7 ETM+ or SPOT 5 data, using either single or multiple dates of imagery. The indices delineating burned versus unburned areas had better overall, User, and Producer's accuracies than indices delineating levels of fire severity. The Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) calculated from SPOT had the greatest overall accuracy (100%) in delineating burned versus unburned areas. The relative differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (RdNBR) using Landsat ETM+ provided the highest accuracies (73% overall accuracy) for delineating fire severity. Though SPOT's spatial resolution likely conferred advantages for determining burn boundaries, the higher spectral resolution (particularly band 7, 2.21 μm) of Landsat ETM+ may be necessary for detecting differences in fire severity in sparsely vegetated shrub-steppe.     

Multiscale divergence between Landsat- and lidar-based biomass mapping is related to regional variation in canopy cover and composition

Background

Satellite-based aboveground forest biomass maps commonly form the basis of forest biomass and carbon stock mapping and monitoring, but biomass maps likely vary in performance by region and as a function of spatial scale of aggregation. Assessing such variability is not possible with spatially-sparse vegetation plot networks. In the current study, our objective was to determine whether high-resolution lidar-based and moderate-resolution Landsat-base aboveground live forest biomass maps converged on similar predictions at stand- to landscape-levels (10 s to 100 s ha) and whether such differences depended on biophysical setting. Specifically, we examined deviations between lidar- and Landsat-based biomass mapping methods across scales and ecoregions using a measure of error (normalized root mean square deviation), a measure of the unsystematic deviations, or noise (Pearson correlation coefficient), and two measures related to systematic deviations, or biases (intercept and slope of a regression between the two sets of predictions).

Results

Compared to forest inventory data (0.81-ha aggregate-level), lidar and Landsat-based mean biomass predictions exhibited similar performance, though lidar predictions exhibited less normalized root mean square deviation than Landsat when compared with the reference plot data. Across aggregate-levels, the intercepts and slopes of regression equations describing the relationships between lidar- and Landsat-based biomass predictions stabilized (i.e., little additional change with increasing area of aggregates) at aggregate-levels between 10 and 100 ha, suggesting a consistent relationship between the two maps at landscape-scales. Differences between lidar- and Landsat-based biomass maps varied as a function of forest canopy heterogeneity and composition, with systematic deviations (regression intercepts) increasing with mean canopy cover and hardwood proportion within forests and correlations decreasing with hardwood proportion.

Conclusions

Deviations between lidar- and Landsat-based maps indicated that satellite-based approaches may represent general gradients in forest biomass. Ecoregion impacted deviations between lidar and Landsat biomass maps, highlighting the importance of biophysical setting in determining biomass map performance across aggregate scales. Therefore, regardless of the source of remote sensing (e.g., Landsat vs. lidar), factors affecting the measurement and prediction of forest biomass, such as species composition, need to be taken into account whether one is estimating biomass at the plot, stand, or landscape scale.

     

GIS支持的全球气候变化对中国Holdridge生命地带的可能影响研究

该文以地理信息系统为支持手段 ,根据Holdridge气候—植被生命地带的分类体系 ,首先研究了在目前气候条件下中国Holdridge生命地带空间分布的基本格局 ;然后采用GFDL、GISS、OSU3个GCMs模拟的 2×CO2 情景下的气温和降水作为未来气候条件 ,揭示了 2×CO2 情景下中国Holdridge生命地带在空间分、面积以及海拔高度等方面的变化