Fire spread from MODIS burned area data: obtaining fire dynamics information for every single fire
David Frantz A B , Marion Stellmes A , Achim Röder A and Joachim Hill A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Environmental Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Faculty of Spatial and Environmental Sciences, Trier University, Campus II, Behringstrasse 21, 54296 Trier, Germany.
B Corresponding author. Email: frantz@uni-trier.de
International Journal of Wildland Fire 25(12) 1228-1237 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF16003
Submitted: 5 January 2016 Accepted: 13 September 2016 Published: 8 November 2016
Abstract
Fire spread information on a large scale is still a missing key layer for a complete description of fire regimes. We developed a novel multilevel object-based methodology that extracts valuable information about fire dynamics from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) burned area data. Besides the large area capabilities, this approach also derives very detailed information for every single fire regarding timing and location of its ignition, as well as detailed directional multitemporal spread information. The approach is a top–down approach and a multilevel segmentation strategy is used to gradually refine the individual object membership. The multitemporal segmentation alternates between recursive seed point identification and queue-based fire tracking. The algorithm relies on only a few input parameters that control the segmentation with spatial and temporal distance thresholds. We present exemplary results that indicate the potential for further use of the derived parameters.
Additional keywords: fire regime, ignition point, Southern Africa.
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