533
Soil and Vegetation Moisture Changes for Forest Fire Events
pixels stand out from the neighboring areas. Compared with the 250-m resolution
MODIS active fire map, the 1-km resolution NMDI image offered almost the same
accurate depiction of the active fire shape, coverage, and location. Moreover, the
NMDI provides quantitative hints about fire intensity, complementary to the burning
locations outlined in the MODIS active fire map. Performance evaluations by using
the statistical analyses reinforce that the active fire detection using the NMDI is quite
accurate. The successful application of the NMDI for detecting fires in Georgia,
USA, and Greece demonstrate that the NMDI is not site specific and can be applicable to different sites with different canopy characteristics.
Compared with the MODIS active fire algorithm, which exploits the strong emission of mid-infrared radiation from fires, the fire detection scheme utilizing the
NMDI has the potential for increasing the spatial resolution of fire detection. The
NIR and SWIR channels used in the NMDI have a resolution of 500 m, double
the resolution of the channels currently used in the MODIS active fire detection algorithm, providing four times the spatial resolution. Moreover, using the NMDI for fire
detection is relatively simple and straightforward, possibly providing a convenient
alternative to MODIS active fire products.
The next generation of the MODIS sensor—the Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)—will have channels centered at 0.86, 1.61, and 2.25 µm (Ou et
al. 2003). This new designed NMDI can be applied to VIIRS to extract information
about soil and vegetation moisture. Future efforts are being directed to more fully
exploit the potential of the NMDI as a drought and active fire–monitoring tool, for
example, fire detection for other vegetation types and different geographic areas and
validation by using measurements from high-resolution satellites or sensors. If more
broadly applicable and reliable, this index may provide an opportunity to monitor
drought and active fire in regional to global scales.
REFERENCES
Akinremi, O. O. and McGinn, S. M. (1996). Evaluation of the Palmer Drought Index on the
Canadian Prairies. Journal of Climate, 9, 897–905.
Alley, W. M. (1984). The Palmer Drought Severity Index: Limitations and assumptions.
Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology, 23, 1100–1109.
Anderson, J. R., Hardy, E. E., Roach, J. T., and Witmer, R. E. (1976). A land use and land
cover classification system for use with remote sensor data. U.S. Geological Survey
Professional Paper, 964, 28 pp.
Anyamba, A., Tucker, C. J., and Eastman, J. R. (2001). NDVI anomaly patterns over Africa during
the 1997/98 ENSO warm event. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 22, 1847–1859.
Bach, H. and Verhoef, W. (2003). Sensitivity studies on the effect of surface soil moisture on
canopy reflectance using the radiative transfer model GeoSAIL. IEEE Proceedings of
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2003. IGARSS ’03, 3, 1679–1681.
Bach, H., Verhoef, W., and Schneider, K. (2000). Coupling remote sensing observation models and a growth model for improved retrieval of biophysical information from optical
remote sensing data. SPIE Proceedings of Remote Sensing for Agricultural, Ecosystems
and Hydrology, 4171, 1–11.
Bayarjargal, Y., Karnieli, A., Bayasgalan, M., Khudulmur, S., Gandush, C., and Tucker, C. J.
(2006). A comparative study of NOAA–AVHRR derived drought indices using change
vector analysis. Remote Sensing of Environment, 105, 9–22.
Soil and Vegetation Moisture Changes for Forest Fire Events
pixels stand out from the neighboring areas. Compared with the 250-m resolution
MODIS active fire map, the 1-km resolution NMDI image offered almost the same
accurate depiction of the active fire shape, coverage, and location. Moreover, the
NMDI provides quantitative hints about fire intensity, complementary to the burning
locations outlined in the MODIS active fire map. Performance evaluations by using
the statistical analyses reinforce that the active fire detection using the NMDI is quite
accurate. The successful application of the NMDI for detecting fires in Georgia,
USA, and Greece demonstrate that the NMDI is not site specific and can be applicable to different sites with different canopy characteristics.
Compared with the MODIS active fire algorithm, which exploits the strong emission of mid-infrared radiation from fires, the fire detection scheme utilizing the
NMDI has the potential for increasing the spatial resolution of fire detection. The
NIR and SWIR channels used in the NMDI have a resolution of 500 m, double
the resolution of the channels currently used in the MODIS active fire detection algorithm, providing four times the spatial resolution. Moreover, using the NMDI for fire
detection is relatively simple and straightforward, possibly providing a convenient
alternative to MODIS active fire products.
The next generation of the MODIS sensor—the Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)—will have channels centered at 0.86, 1.61, and 2.25 µm (Ou et
al. 2003). This new designed NMDI can be applied to VIIRS to extract information
about soil and vegetation moisture. Future efforts are being directed to more fully
exploit the potential of the NMDI as a drought and active fire–monitoring tool, for
example, fire detection for other vegetation types and different geographic areas and
validation by using measurements from high-resolution satellites or sensors. If more
broadly applicable and reliable, this index may provide an opportunity to monitor
drought and active fire in regional to global scales.
REFERENCES
Akinremi, O. O. and McGinn, S. M. (1996). Evaluation of the Palmer Drought Index on the
Canadian Prairies. Journal of Climate, 9, 897–905.
Alley, W. M. (1984). The Palmer Drought Severity Index: Limitations and assumptions.
Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology, 23, 1100–1109.
Anderson, J. R., Hardy, E. E., Roach, J. T., and Witmer, R. E. (1976). A land use and land
cover classification system for use with remote sensor data. U.S. Geological Survey
Professional Paper, 964, 28 pp.
Anyamba, A., Tucker, C. J., and Eastman, J. R. (2001). NDVI anomaly patterns over Africa during
the 1997/98 ENSO warm event. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 22, 1847–1859.
Bach, H. and Verhoef, W. (2003). Sensitivity studies on the effect of surface soil moisture on
canopy reflectance using the radiative transfer model GeoSAIL. IEEE Proceedings of
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2003. IGARSS ’03, 3, 1679–1681.
Bach, H., Verhoef, W., and Schneider, K. (2000). Coupling remote sensing observation models and a growth model for improved retrieval of biophysical information from optical
remote sensing data. SPIE Proceedings of Remote Sensing for Agricultural, Ecosystems
and Hydrology, 4171, 1–11.
Bayarjargal, Y., Karnieli, A., Bayasgalan, M., Khudulmur, S., Gandush, C., and Tucker, C. J.
(2006). A comparative study of NOAA–AVHRR derived drought indices using change
vector analysis. Remote Sensing of Environment, 105, 9–22.