One year of near-continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale: Comparing fire radiative power from polar-orbiting and geostationary observations

Geostationary and polar-orbiting remote sensors have different opportunities to observe wildfires. While polar-orbiting sensors have been favoured in wildfire observations, geostationary sensors offer a higher observation frequency. Here, we assess the utility of the Himawari-8 AHI geostationary pro...

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Main Authors: Konstantinos Chatzopoulos-Vouzoglanis, Karin J. Reinke, Mariela Soto-Berelov, Simon D. Jones
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-03-01
Series:International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1569843223000365
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author Konstantinos Chatzopoulos-Vouzoglanis
Karin J. Reinke
Mariela Soto-Berelov
Simon D. Jones
author_facet Konstantinos Chatzopoulos-Vouzoglanis
Karin J. Reinke
Mariela Soto-Berelov
Simon D. Jones
author_sort Konstantinos Chatzopoulos-Vouzoglanis
collection DOAJ
description Geostationary and polar-orbiting remote sensors have different opportunities to observe wildfires. While polar-orbiting sensors have been favoured in wildfire observations, geostationary sensors offer a higher observation frequency. Here, we assess the utility of the Himawari-8 AHI geostationary product and compare it to established polar-orbiting observations from TERRA/AQUA MODIS and SNPP VIIRS for 12 months of fire activity in Australia (2019–2020). Fire Radiative Power (FRP) estimates from AHI (BRIGHT/AHI) are compared to the MODIS (MOD14/MYD14) and VIIRS (VNP14IMG) polar-orbiting products, through varying spatial and temporal aggregations. Results suggest that all products capture similar wildfire dynamics across the continent. For near-simultaneously observed hotspots, the agreement is high between BRIGHT/AHI and the individual polar-orbiting products (r = 0.74–0.77, p < 0.01). Land cover and region-specific comparisons show similar FRP estimate distributions between products, although with scale differences due to the varying spatial resolutions. Derived diurnal FRP cycles on the other hand, highlight the dense temporal information that BRIGHT/AHI offers in contrast to the other products. This is further emphasized with individual event comparisons, where BRIGHT/AHI reports fire activity continuously while the polar-orbiting products only offer fragmented observations when available. In conclusion, AHI observes similar spatiotemporal patterns and FRP estimation distributions to MODIS and VIIRS during different seasons across Australia. While BRIGHT/AHI’s coarser spatial resolution underestimates the FRP estimations captured by its counterparts, its higher observation frequency demonstrates significant advantages. This analysis further raises the confidence in BRIGHT/AHI for continuous wildfire monitoring across Australia while revealing new opportunities that take advantage of its denser observation record.
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spelling doaj.art-51aacd8e91f74052adbb4513c11cec5d2023-02-15T04:27:34ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation1569-84322023-03-01117103214One year of near-continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale: Comparing fire radiative power from polar-orbiting and geostationary observationsKonstantinos Chatzopoulos-Vouzoglanis0Karin J. Reinke1Mariela Soto-Berelov2Simon D. Jones3Geospatial Science, School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, Eleanor Harrald Building, Lot Fourteen, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia; Corresponding author at: Geospatial Science, School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia.Geospatial Science, School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, Eleanor Harrald Building, Lot Fourteen, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA 5000, AustraliaGeospatial Science, School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, Eleanor Harrald Building, Lot Fourteen, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA 5000, AustraliaGeospatial Science, School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, Eleanor Harrald Building, Lot Fourteen, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA 5000, AustraliaGeostationary and polar-orbiting remote sensors have different opportunities to observe wildfires. While polar-orbiting sensors have been favoured in wildfire observations, geostationary sensors offer a higher observation frequency. Here, we assess the utility of the Himawari-8 AHI geostationary product and compare it to established polar-orbiting observations from TERRA/AQUA MODIS and SNPP VIIRS for 12 months of fire activity in Australia (2019–2020). Fire Radiative Power (FRP) estimates from AHI (BRIGHT/AHI) are compared to the MODIS (MOD14/MYD14) and VIIRS (VNP14IMG) polar-orbiting products, through varying spatial and temporal aggregations. Results suggest that all products capture similar wildfire dynamics across the continent. For near-simultaneously observed hotspots, the agreement is high between BRIGHT/AHI and the individual polar-orbiting products (r = 0.74–0.77, p < 0.01). Land cover and region-specific comparisons show similar FRP estimate distributions between products, although with scale differences due to the varying spatial resolutions. Derived diurnal FRP cycles on the other hand, highlight the dense temporal information that BRIGHT/AHI offers in contrast to the other products. This is further emphasized with individual event comparisons, where BRIGHT/AHI reports fire activity continuously while the polar-orbiting products only offer fragmented observations when available. In conclusion, AHI observes similar spatiotemporal patterns and FRP estimation distributions to MODIS and VIIRS during different seasons across Australia. While BRIGHT/AHI’s coarser spatial resolution underestimates the FRP estimations captured by its counterparts, its higher observation frequency demonstrates significant advantages. This analysis further raises the confidence in BRIGHT/AHI for continuous wildfire monitoring across Australia while revealing new opportunities that take advantage of its denser observation record.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1569843223000365Fire radiative powerFRPFREHimawari-8AHIBRIGHT/AHI
spellingShingle Konstantinos Chatzopoulos-Vouzoglanis
Karin J. Reinke
Mariela Soto-Berelov
Simon D. Jones
One year of near-continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale: Comparing fire radiative power from polar-orbiting and geostationary observations
International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation
Fire radiative power
FRP
FRE
Himawari-8
AHI
BRIGHT/AHI
title One year of near-continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale: Comparing fire radiative power from polar-orbiting and geostationary observations
title_full One year of near-continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale: Comparing fire radiative power from polar-orbiting and geostationary observations
title_fullStr One year of near-continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale: Comparing fire radiative power from polar-orbiting and geostationary observations
title_full_unstemmed One year of near-continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale: Comparing fire radiative power from polar-orbiting and geostationary observations
title_short One year of near-continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale: Comparing fire radiative power from polar-orbiting and geostationary observations
title_sort one year of near continuous fire monitoring on a continental scale comparing fire radiative power from polar orbiting and geostationary observations
topic Fire radiative power
FRP
FRE
Himawari-8
AHI
BRIGHT/AHI
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1569843223000365
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