Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2005, Issue 2, Vol. 2, pp. 415-421
ESTIMATING BURNED AREA FROM AVHRR AND MODIS:
VALIDATION RESULTS AND SOURCES OF ERROR
T.V. Loboda
, I.A. Csiszar
Geography Department , University of Maryland, 2181 LeFrak Hall, College Park , MD, U.S.A
Fire impact on Russian boreal forests has been studied for several decades. However, only remote sensing can currently
provide consistent and unbiased observations of fire activity over the entire territory. Burned area estimates provide a critical
input for numerous fields of science and resource management such as carbon cycle, climate modeling, forestry and fire
management. Coarse resolution satellite instruments (e.g. SPOT-VEGETATION, AVHRR, MODIS, and ATSR) provide daily
global observations of fire activity. We evaluated a set of fire products from AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution
Radiometer) and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). The validation of these products by fine
resolution Landsat imagery has demonstrated that they provide consistent and realistic estimates of burned area with RMSE =
0.9. AVHRR derived products in general tend to overestimate burned area whereas MODIS products tend to slightly
underestimate it. Georegistration error, fire spread, duration of fire events, season of burning and other parameters have been
found to influence the differences in area estimates from the two instruments. Both active fire and burned area products are
necessary for detailed characterization of fire activity and impact extent. In addition to the operational use of the burned area
estimates, records of fire activity from AVHRR provide an opportunity to observe longer-time trends and cycles in fire
occurrence. The intercomparison of the products is aimed at the development of a long-term consistent suite of fire products
which will enable us to understand changes in fire regimes with climate and land use change.
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