1. USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center Operational Satellite-Based Remote Sensing Fire Support Programs WRAP/FETS Project Meeting Boise, Idaho August 31-September 1, 2009

2. Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC)
National Technical Center
Detached Washington Office – Engineering
Geospatial Management Organization (GMO)
Mission: Provide national assistance to agency units and deputy areas in applying the most advanced geospatial technology toward improved monitoring and mapping of natural resources

3. USDA Forest Service Organization
National Headquarters in Washington, DC
9 Regional Offices
National Forest System
155 National Forests and 20 National Grasslands
600 Ranger Districts
193 million acres in CONUS, AK and PR
Research
7 stations
50 field offices
State and Private Forestry
Fire & Aviation
Forest Health Protection
International Programs

4. Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC)
Rapid Disturbance Assessment and Services Program
Tactical and strategic remote sensing support Forest Service units and external partners in response to disturbance events
Includes operational active wildland fire management and post-fire assessment support programs/projects

5. RSAC Areas of Interest for Operational Air Quality Management Support
Provide high temporal observations/value-added products from various satellites (MODIS, AURA, VIIRS, etc.) to support USFS and other agency air quality managers
Identify source/receptor relationships
Exceptional events in relation to states
Natural and anthropogenic sources of smoke relative to Class 1 areas
Rx fire effects on urban areas
Provide satellite-based ozone monitoring products, particularly in the south Sierras and the southeast U.S.
Integrate/analyze results with ongoing USFS ground-based ozone monitoring efforts
Provide fire detection, burn scar and burn severity geospatial data products (moderate and high resolution) for existing and future emissions tracking/forecasting applications
WRAP/FETS
Blue Sky Smoke Modeling Framework

6. RSAC Satellite-Based Fire Mapping Programs
Active Fire Mapping
MODIS Direct Readout/Active Fire Mapping Program
Near real-time fire detection, characterization and monitoring
Support interagency strategic fire management and planning
Post-fire Mapping
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS)
Assess frequency, extent and severity of all current/historical large wildland fires
Monitor national fire policy effectiveness
Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Imagery Support
Emergency assessment of burn severity
Support emergency stabilization activities by USFS BAER teams
Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Condition after Wildfire (RAVG)
Rapid assessment of forest damage
Revegetation decision support data/information for USFS forest silviculturists

7. Forest Service MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program
Satellite-based operational detection and monitoring of wildland fire activity in CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii & Canada
Generate and provide "value added” fire mapping and visualization products, and geospatial data
Facilitates decision support for strategic wildfire planning and response for U.S. and Canadian fire agencies
Prioritize allocation of fire suppression assets
Focus tactical airborne reconnaissance assets
Supports several fire-related applications and decision support systems

8. Forest Service MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program
Currently Leveraged Sensor Assets
Sensor
Platform Type
Spatial Resolution (Reflectance/TIR Bands)
Temporal Resolution (per instrument)
Fire Algorithm
Data Source
MODIS
Polar orbiting
250m, 500m, 1km/1km
2 times daily
MOD14/MYD14
Direct Readout; NASA Rapid Response System
AVHRR
1km/1km
FIMMA
NOAA NESDIS
GOES
Geostationary
1km/4km
4 times hourly
WF-ABBA
VIIRS*
375m/750m
TBD
Direct Readout; Rapid Response
GOES-R#
500m, 1km/2km
Direct Readout; NOAA NESDIS
* VIIRS launch on NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) mission in June 2011 and subsequent NPOESS missions
# GOES-R launch in 2015 and subsequent missions

9. (Active fires in orange)
MODIS Fire & Thermal Anomalies (MOD14/MYD14)
Central Idaho
Aug 12, 2007
False Color Composite
(1-KM detection
centroids in yellow)
Central Idaho
Aug 12, 2007
False Color Composite
(Active fires in orange)
Central Idaho
Aug 12, 2007
True Color Composite
Detects & characterizes fire at 1km spatial resolution at time of satellite overpass
Leverages response of 4m and 11m bands to fire
Absolute thresholds and contextual analysis
Fire detection is affected by several variables
Atmospheric conditions, view angle, land cover, overpass time relative to fire activity, etc.
Fire activity smaller than 1km can be detected
100m2 flaming fire (50% probability)
50m2 flaming fire in ideal viewing conditions (~100% probability)

11. AFM Operational Fire Product Deliverables
Northern California – June 27, 2008
Value-Added Mapping/Visualization Products and Geospatial Data
Printable regional fire detection maps
Interactive web fire detection maps
Google Earth fire KML/KMZ products
Fire detection GIS datasets
True & False color image subsets
Fire detection analysis/summary products

12. A Look At Recent Fire Activity With MODIS
Southern California – August 29, MDT
Aqua MODIS True Color Composite

13. A Look At Recent Fire Activity With MODIS
Southern California – August 29, MDT
Aqua MODIS False Color Composite

14. A Look At Recent Fire Activity With MODIS
Station Fire – August 31, MDT

15. RSAC Satellite-Based Fire Mapping Programs
Active Fire Mapping
MODIS Direct Readout/Active Fire Mapping Program
Near real-time fire detection, characterization and monitoring
Support interagency strategic fire management and planning
Post-fire Mapping
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS)
Assess frequency, extent and severity of all current/historical large wildland fires
Monitor national fire policy effectiveness
Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Imagery Support
Emergency assessment of burn severity
Support emergency stabilization activities by USFS BAER teams
Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Condition after Wildfire (RAVG)
Rapid assessment of forest damage
Revegetation decision support data/information for USFS forest silviculturists

16. MTBS Project Overview
Consistently map the location, extent and burn severity of large fires on all lands in the CONUS, AK, HI and PR from 1984 and 2010
> 1,000 acres in the western United States
> 500 acres in the eastern United States
Initiated in FY 2006
Sponsored by the interagency Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC)
One element of a strategy monitoring the effectiveness of NFP and HFRA
Jointly implemented by USFS RSAC and USGS EROS
Equal funding from USDA-FS and DOI

17. Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity
Leveraged Sensor Assets
Sensor
Platform Type
Spatial Resolution (Reflectance Bands)
Temporal Resolution (per instrument)
Data Source
Landsat 4 TM
Polar orbiting
30m
16 days
USGS EROS
Landsat 5 TM
Landsat 7 ETM+
LDCM1
1 – LDCM launch currently scheduled for December 2012
Why Landsat???
Operational precedent
NPS fire atlases
USFS/DOI BAER Programs
Landsat TM/ETM data record (1984 to present)
Consistent data record spanning ecologically and possibly climatically significant time frame
Resolution synergy
Spatial and spectral resolutions comparable to other national scale data

18. Burn Severity Mapping Primer
Exploiting Spectral Response Curves…
Visible
NIR
SWIR

19. Burn Severity Mapping Primer
Burn scar delineation and burn severity characterization are based on Landsat TM/ETM image pairs and the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR)
See “Landscape Assessment” section in Fire Effects Monitoring and Inventory Protocol (FIREMON)
Pre-fire
Post-fire
dNBR
Burn Severity
Landsat
NBR
Difference
Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR)
NBR = (NIR – SWIR) / (NIR + SWIR)
dNBR = Pre NBR – Post NBR
Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR)
6/8/2005
6/14/2007

20. MTBS Fire Mapping Methods Overview
Compile a single MTBS fire occurrence database (FOD) from existing data sources
28,000+ fire occurrences between
Numerous duplicates, spatial anomalies, etc
Based on FOD and prescribed assessment strategy, select pre and post-fire Landsat scenes
Determined by primarily biophysical setting of fire
Landsat TM/ETM+ data ordered and acquired from EROS
All Landsat data are free (since late 2008)
Perform necessary pre-processing, create and subset dNBR images, burn scar delineation, threshold dNBR images into burn severity classes
Metadata, map products, burn severity GIS data analysis, and reporting summary

21. MTBS Fire Occurrence Locations
28,000+ target fires
Numerous duplicates and spatial anomalies
28,000+ fires for

22. MTBS Methods – Assessment Strategy
Based on fire type
Extended Assessment (EA)
Severity based on post-fire assessment at peak of green of next growing season
Forests/shrublands
Initial Assessment (IA)
Severity based on immediate post-fire assessment
Grasslands/shrublands
“Single Scene” Assessment
Lack of suitable pre-fire imagery or other factors; use post-fire NBR
Conducted on a limited basis (EAs and IAs)

23. MTBS Geospatial Products
Fire Level Datasets
Available at
Pre/Post-fire Landsat imagery
Bands 1-5, 7
Burn scar boundary
Vector delineation of burned area extent based on image analysis
Continuous burn severity indices
dNBR/RdNBR
Thematic burn severity data
6 classes (unburned to low, low, moderate, high, increased vegetation response, non-mappable areas)
Prefire Image
Postfire Image
Burn Severity Indices
Thematic Burn Severity
Unburned to Low
Low
Moderate
High

24. MTBS Production Status
~9,600 fires completed
81.6 million acres

25. MTBS Geospatial Products
Composite MTBS Fire Datasets
National
Burn Scar Boundaries
ESRI Shapefile w/metadata
Fire attributes
Fire Occurrence Database
Geographic centroid of burn scar boundaries for each fire
Fire and MTBS processing attributes
Regional
Thematic Burn Severity Image Mosaics
6 class thematic GeoTiffs w/metadata
Available by MTBS mapping zone/year
2005 burn severity mosaics by MTBS zones

26. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER)
Fast track emergency assessment
Fires ranging from 100s of acres to 100s of thousands of acres in size
Assess fire effects on the soil and watershed hydrologic function (erosion and flood potential)
Prescribe and implement emergency stabilization measures to mitigate potential hazards to:
Life
Property
Long-term soil productivity
Water quality
Natural resources
BAER response plan is required within 7 days of fire containment
Remote sensing support is critical in generating BAER team response plans
Straw waddles on Pike-San Isabel NF
Contour logging on Shasta-Trinity NF

27. Burned Area Emergency Response Imagery Support
Provide rapid delivery of imagery and derived products to Forest Service BAER teams
Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC), preliminary vegetation burn severity, based on dNBR/dNDVI assessment
BAER teams use BARC with field observations and other spatial data to generate a soil burn severity map
RSAC remote sensing support provided at or immediately after fire containment
Emergency assessment
RSAC provides imagery and data products within 24 hours of image acquisition
532 fires completed since 2001 (13.6 million acres)
USFS and DOI BAER support programs combined -736 fires completed since 2001 (25.7 million acres)
Prefire
Postfire
BARC

28. Burned Area Emergency Response Imagery Support
Leveraged Sensor Assets – Use Best Available
Sensor
Platform Type
Spatial Resolution (Reflectance Bands)
Temporal Resolution (per instrument)
Data Source
Landsat 5 TM
Polar orbiting
30m
16 days
USGS EROS
Landsat 7 ETM+
AWiFS
56m
5 days
USDA-FAS-SIA
SPOT 4
20m
2-3 days (pointable)
SPOT Image
SPOT 5
10m/20m
ASTER1
15m/30m
4-16 days (pointable)
NASA/USGS EROS
NASA AMS
Airborne (UAV)
~ 21m --
NASA
LDCM2
1 – Anomalous SWIR band issues since April 2008; 2 - LDCM launch currently scheduled for December 2012

29. Black Pine 2 Fire Sawtooth NF
Creation of the BARC
dNBR
BARC
Unburned to Low
Low
Moderate
High
Prefire
Postfire
Black Pine 2 Fire Sawtooth NF
73,000 Acres
Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR)
Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR)
NBR = (NIR – SWIR) / (NIR + SWIR)
dNBR = Pre NBR – Post NBR
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
Differenced NDVI (dNDVI)
NDVI = (NIR – Red) / (NIR + Red)
dNDVI = Pre NDVI – Post NDVI
dNDVI is utilized when appropriate SWIR band is not available

30. Burned Area Emergency Response Imagery Support
BAER Support Rapid Delivery Products
Prefire Image
Postfire Image
3D Visualizations
Map Products
dNBR or dNDVI Image
BARC Image

31. Post-Fire Vegetation Management on National Forest System Lands
Agency resources to support reforestation in burned areas are limited, consequently, better prioritization is needed
USFS Region 5 facilitated a protocol for rapid identification of deforestation and reforestation need on National Forest System lands
Leverage relationship of satellite-based burn severity observations to Composite Burn Index (CBI) field plot data that quantify fire effects to vegetation (deforestation)
Spatially represent forested vs. deforested areas following wildfire
Based on Landfire EVT
Silviculturists use results as a tool to identify and prioritize land suitable for reforestation
Natural Recovery
Assisted Recovery (planting, seeding or site preparation for natural recovery)

32. Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Condition after Wildfire (RAVG)
Provide Landsat imagery and derived products characterizing fire effects on forest resources to silviculturists (based on USFS protocol)
Assessment based on RdNBR – a relative version of dNBR
Regression models based on CBI field plot data and RdNBR used to derive post-fire forest condition layers:
Burn severity
% basal area loss
% canopy cover loss
Conducted on fires where > 1,000 acres of NFS forested land is affected
RAVG data and summary products are provided within 30 days of fire containment
142 fires completed since 2007 (~4.5 million acres)
Postfire Image
RdNBR
7 Class Basal Area Mortality

33. Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Condition after Wildfire
Primary RAVG Product Deliverables
Prefire Landsat image
Postfire Landsat image
Burn Scar Boundary
dNBR and RdNBR
% Change in Basal Area
% Change in Canopy Cover
Burn Severity
Forested/Deforested map and tabular summaries by land status and slope

34. Additional Information
RSAC Fire Mapping Support Programs
MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity Project
BAER Imagery Support Program
Rapid Assessment of Vegetation after Fire Program