Validation studies of EUMETSAT’s active fire monitoring product over Turkey

Abstract

Fire detection and monitoring are challenging tasks that require continuous, early and quick responses that are as accurate as possible. Satellite-based systems are indispensable tools for operational and research agencies to accomplish such a demanding task. The frequent and continuous imagery capability of the geostationary satellites makes them the best candidate for early fire detection systems. The main purpose of the present paper is to analyze the spatio-temporal distribution of active fire monitoring (FIR) products of the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)’s Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite with in situ data for the summer of 2006 over Turkey. In situ data were obtained from the fire reports of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Turkey. The main shortcomings of the MSG active fire monitoring product validation arise from the pixel resolution and fire coverage, which are examined on the basis of some recent examples. The diurnal cycle of active fires identified well with the product. The burnt area effects on the accuracy of hit ratios were also analyzed. It is seen that the possibility for the fire to be detected by MSG increases with increasing burnt area. Even with the present anomalies, remote sensing may provide a consistent systematic way of monitoring fires, removing human biases and enabling a long-term dataset, which has been a goal of Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics (GOFC/GOLD).