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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 17(4)

Remote sensing of burn severity: experience from western Canada boreal fires*

R. J. Hall A D , J. T. Freeburn A , W. J. de Groot B , J. M. Pritchard A , T. J. Lynham B and R. Landry C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 5320-122 Street, Edmonton, AB, T6H 3S5, Canada.

B Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 1219 Queen Street E., Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 2E5, Canada.

C Natural Resources Canada, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, 588 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0Y7, Canada.

D Corresponding author. Email: Ron.Hall@NRCan.gc.ca

International Journal of Wildland Fire 17(4) 476-489 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF08013
Submitted: 23 January 2008  Accepted: 18 February 2008   Published: 6 August 2008

Abstract

The severity of a burn for post-fire ecological effects has been assessed with the composite burn index (CBI) and the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR). This study assessed the relationship between these two variables across recently burned areas located in the western Canadian boreal, a region not extensively evaluated in previous studies. Of particular interest was to evaluate the nature of the CBI–dNBR relationship from the perspectives of modelling, the influence of fire behaviour prediction (FBP) fuel type, and how field observations could be incorporated into the burn severity mapping process. A non-linear model form best represented the relationship between these variables for the fires evaluated, and a similar statistical performance was achieved when data from all fires were pooled into a single dataset. Results from this study suggest the potential to develop a single model for application over the western region of the boreal, but further evaluation is necessary. This evaluation could include stratification by FBP fuel type due to study results that document its apparent influence on dNBR values. A new approach for burn severity mapping was introduced by defining severity thresholds through field assessment of CBI, and from which development of new models could be incorporated directly into the mapping process.

Additional keywords: composite burn index, fire severity, fuel type, Landsat, Normalized Burn Ratio.


Acknowledgements

This study is part of a larger project funded and supported by the Canadian Space Agency and Natural Resources Canada. Fire ecology and field work planning for this study originally led by Dr Vern Peters is greatly appreciated. We also acknowledge field assistance by Elizabeth Farries, Kari Willer, Ruth Errington and Rene Beaulieu, as well as logistical and in-kind support from Saskatchewan Environment, Yukon Government and Parks Canada (Wood Buffalo National Park). Discussions held with Carl Key and Nancy French during the early stages of this work were greatly appreciated. Comments provided by two anonymous reviewers have further improved this manuscript and are gratefully acknowledged.


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* Presented at the 3rd International Fire Ecology and Management Congress, 13–17 November 2006, San Diego, California.