Recent Comparison/Validation Studies of the Wildfire ABBA (WF_ABBA) in North and South

America

Joleen M. Feltz*, Michel Moreau^, Elaine M. Prins+,

Kirsten McClaid-Cook#, Irving Foster Brown##

*Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

^Environment Canada/Meteorological Services/Quebec Region, Quebec, Canada

+NOAA/NESDIS/ORA Advanced Satellite Products Team

#State University of New York, Albany, New York

##Woods Hole Research Center-WHRC, Federal University of Acre-UFAC, Federal University Fluminense-UFF

8-Year Comparison of 3-Hourly GOES ABBA and AVHRR INPE Fire Products in South America: 1995 - 2002

In every year the GOES-8 ABBA diurnal fire product identified more fire pixels in the “arc of deforestation” than the single time period NOAA (pm overpass) AVHRR INPE fire product. This study demonstrates the complementary nature of multi-sensor fire detection programs.

Arc of Deforestation

Validation/Comparison Studies in Western BrazilLBA Activity

The burning patterns in Acre are evident in a composite image of GOES-8 WF_ABBA

• The linear features represent burning along roadways.

• More intense burning is also evident along the border between Brazil and Bolivia.

Fire IDStartDate

StartTime Longitude Latitude

Scar or Active

Size(hectares) biomass weather

Distance (km) from field observation

11 25/09/02 1700 -67.745420 -9.720310 Active Fire 1 secondary growth smokey 1.967 (1.967) 3 3060 05/09/02 1715 -67.781300 -9.750210 Active Fire 1 1.144 (3.315) 0 0

64 07/09/02 -67.673640 -9.724440 Active Fire 1 scrubby pasture cloudy 1.654 (1.654) 1 1070 07/09/02 1805 -67.716570 -9.657480 Active Fire 1 derrubada cloudy 6.645 (3.992) 2 0074 07/09/02 1840 -67.712810 -9.587090 Active Fire 1 derrubada 2.009 (5.37) 2 0133 01/10/02 1700 -69.085369 -10.805102 Active Fire 1 secondary growth parlty cloudy 5.149 (2.358) 0 3146 01/10/02 1815 -67.736559 -9.499045 Active Fire 1 secondary growth 30% cloudy 6.625 (6.625) 0 0

10 25/09/02 1700 -67.753170 -9.728580 Active Fire 2 forest smokey 2.198 (2.198) 3 316 25/09/02 1845 -67.736770 -9.604300 Active Fire 2 secondary growth smokey 7.737 (8.344) 0 0

076 07/09/02 1900 -67.703890 -9.547690 Active Fire 2 cloudy 5.832 (8.467) 2 0077 07/09/02 2020 -67.711530 -9.816390 Active Fire 2 forest cloudy 8.524 (8.187) 2 0184 16/10/02 1824 -67.085029 -9.935738 Active Fire 2 pasture partly cloudy 7.22 (7.22) 0 5

12 25/09/02 1800 -67.753050 -9.667400 Active Fire 3 forest smokey 0.815 (4.798) 0 513 25/09/02 1800 -67.776970 -9.639900 Active Fire 3 secondary growth smokey 3.829 (7.677) 0 273 07/09/02 1830 -67.699340 -9.608200 Active Fire 3 secondary growth 0.915 (5.074) 2 0

075 07/09/02 1850 -67.709410 -9.563290 Active Fire 3 secondary growth cloudy 4.211 (6.887) 2 02104 25/09/02 2030 -68.930837 -10.948095 Active Fire 3 pasture clear 4.009 (3.037) 0 2

117 30/09/02 1700 -67.757120 -9.731544 Active Fire 3 clean pasture partly cloudy 13.707 (2.678) 5 0134 01/10/02 1720 -67.781679 -9.508739 Active Fire 3 secondary growth 25% cloudy 6.176 (6.176) 2 2183 16/10/02 1810 -67.195489 -9.991514 Active Fire 3 forest partly cloudy 2.443 (2.443) 4 4

WF_ABBAFire Flag

• Start dates and most start times listed for 88 fires in the Acre region• Active fire or fire scar• Latitude/Longitude • Size in hectares• Biomass and weather information

Ground Truth Information for Fires in Acre During September/October 2002

Information provided by Kirsten McClaid-Cook

pasture22%

pasture/forest1%

forest19%

secondary growth/forest

1%

secondary growth18%

derrubada3%

unknown36%

Distribution of Biomass Type Determined by Field Observation

field observations(88 observations)

WF_ABBA observedfire pixels (76 observations)

pasture20%

pasture/forest1%

forest18%

secondary growth/forest

1%secondary growth

18%

derrubada3%

unknown25%

not detected14%

MODIS TERRA and GOES fire pixel detection within +/- 1 day of Acre Field Report(88 fires: 13 August - 17 October 2002)

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1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 82 85 88

Fire Index

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MODIS Fire Detect Confidence MODIS Overpass WF_ABBA Fire Flag

0 – Processed Fire Pixel 1 – Saturated Fire Pixel 2 – Cloudy Fire Pixel Possible Categories: 3 – High 4 – Medium 5 – Low

GOES WF_ABBA Fire Categories

Comparison of GOES WF_ABBA withGround Truth in Acre, Brazil

Number of observed fire pixels versus the percentage of region determined to be cloudy at 1745 UTC

Number of observed fire pixels versus the percentage of region determined to be cloudy at 2045 UTC

Quebec, Canada

a.

b.

2002 Quebec Validation

Study

Dates:20 Junethrough

31 August

Courtesy of Michel MoreauEnvironment Canada, Meteorological Ser vices, Quebec Region

Quebec

2002 Validation Study in Quebec

Red markers indicate fires first detected by the WF_ABBA. Filled red circles are fire pixels that were only detected by the WF_ABBA

In one case, the WF_ABBA detected a fire 17 days in advance of the first fire agency report. This fire eventually burned more than 55,000 hectares. This fire was located in Northern Quebec where there is no need for systematic daily detection by SOPFEU

2002 Quebec Fire Season Results

Fire Pixel Flag Positive Fire Detections

Possible Fire Detections

False Detections

Processed 2775 (3030) 20 (20) 52 (133)

Saturated 1979 (2001) 0 (0) 0 (6)

Cloud Covered 1978 (2120) 2 (3) 3 (11)

High Possibility 598 (689) 1 (1) 5 (170)

Medium Possibility 61 (88) 9 (12) 18 (197)

Low Possibility 448 (539) 75 (113) 168 (1660)

Filtered96% confirmed1% possible3% false

UnFiltered78% confirmed2% possible20% false

Western United States: Wildfires in June 2002

1. Smaller fires are more difficult to identify – large view angle.

2. Mountainous topography can hide fire signal

3. Diurnal heating will cause barren desert and rocky landscape to radiate close to the 3.9 micron saturation temperature.

MODIS and GOES fire pixel detection within +/- 1 day of Nature Conservancy Report(21 fires: April through May 2003)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Fire Index

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MODIS Fire Detect Confidence MODIS Overpass WF_ABBA Fire Flag

Comparison of GOES WF_ABBA with Nature Conservancy Ground Truth in Minnesota

0 – Processed Fire Pixel 1 – Saturated Fire Pixel 2 – Cloudy Fire Pixel Possible Categories: 3 – High 4 – Medium 5 – Low

GOES WF_ABBA Fire Categories

Conclusions

• Initial validation/comparison studies throughout the Western Hemisphere have shown that a consistent geostationary satellite fire monitoring algorithm can be applied in different biomes, under varying view angles and observing conditions.

• Algorithm is useful for varying user applications: initial detect, mapping of distribution of fires, etc.

• Temporal filtering significantly reduces false alarms, but also eliminates some short-lived fires.

• The diurnal information available from the GOES WF_ABBA can complement fire products from higher resolution systems (MODIS).