A multi-scale assessment of fire scar mapping in the Great Victoria Desert of Western Australia
Jaume Ruscalleda-Alvarez A B C E , Dorian Moro A D and Richard van Dongen B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Great Victoria Desert Biodiversity Trust, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
B Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.
C School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
D School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: jaume.ruscalledaalvarez@gvdbiodiversitytrust.org.au
International Journal of Wildland Fire 30(11) 886-898 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF21019
Submitted: 11 February 2021 Accepted: 20 July 2021 Published: 19 August 2021
Journal Compilation © IAWF 2021 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Fire management is increasingly acknowledged as a necessary tool to maintain diversity in desert environments such as the Great Victoria Desert of Australia, but it needs to be informed by accurate fire history data. We compared and assessed the utility of Landsat-derived and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-derived burnt area mapping (30 m and 250 m resolution, respectively) for sub-regional, landscape and habitat scale management. We did so by using Sentinel-2-derived, 10 m resolution, burnt area mapping as a reference, to determine the most appropriate product to support land management planning. At the landscape scale, Landsat had significantly lower average omission and commission errors (3.4% and 8.0%, respectively) compared with that of MODIS (42.2% and 19.9%, respectively). At the habitat scale, Landsat burnt area percentage was more accurate, in plots of 500 m × 500 m (root mean square error (RMSE) 0.6% to 8.6%), but offered lower accuracy when estimating partially burnt habitat plots of 120 m × 120 m (RMSE 14.1% to 23.9%). Only Landsat-derived fire scar mapping provided enough detail to produce reliable fire history maps to inform fire management and biodiversity conservation operations at a sub-regional scale, landscape scale and a habitat scale of 500 m by 500 m.
Keywords: multi-scale inter-comparison, fire mapping, fire history, fire management, Landsat, MODIS, Sentinel-2.
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