A New Passive Microwave Tool for Operational Forest Fires Detection: A Case Study of Siberia in 2019
The purpose of this paper is to present a new method for early detection of forest fires, especially in forest zones prone to fires using microwave remote sensing and information-modeling tools. A decision-making system is developed as a tool for operational coupled analysis of modeling results and...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-03-01
|
| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/5/835 |
| _version_ | 1818957866646634496 |
|---|---|
| author | Costas A. Varotsos Vladimir F. Krapivin Ferdenant A. Mkrtchyan |
| author_facet | Costas A. Varotsos Vladimir F. Krapivin Ferdenant A. Mkrtchyan |
| author_sort | Costas A. Varotsos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The purpose of this paper is to present a new method for early detection of forest fires, especially in forest zones prone to fires using microwave remote sensing and information-modeling tools. A decision-making system is developed as a tool for operational coupled analysis of modeling results and remote sensing data. The main operating structure of this system has blocks that calculate the moisture of forest canopy, the soil-litter layer, and the forest physical temperature using the observed brightness temperature provided by the flying platform IL-18 equipped with passive microwave radiometers of 1.43, 13.3 and 37.5 GHz frequencies. The hydrological parameters of the forest are assessed with both a developed regional hydrological model and remote sensing observations. The hydrological model allows for the detection of fire-prone zones that are subject to remote sensing when modeling results are corrected and thermal temperatures are evaluated. An approach for the real time forest fires classification via daytime remote sensing observations is proposed. The relative theoretical and experimental results presented here have allowed us to use a new approach to forests monitoring during periods of potential fire. A decision-making algorithm is presented that aims at analyzing data flows from radiometers located on the remote sensing platform to calculate the probability of forest fire occurring in geographical pixels. As case study, the state of forest fires that occurred in Siberia in 2019 using microwave remote sensing measurements conducted by a flying IL-18 laboratory is presented. This remote sensing platform is equipped with optical and microwave tools that allow the optical and microwave images of the observed forest areas. The main operating frequencies of microwave radiometers are 1.43, 13.3 and 37.5 GHz. Microwave radiometers provide data on water content in the forest canopy and on litter and physical temperatures. Based on the long-term measurements made in Siberia, the possible improvement of the proposed decision-making system for future relevant studies is discussed in detail. The basic idea of cost-effective monitoring of forested areas consists of a two-stage exploration of fire risk zones. The first monitoring stage is performed using the hydrological model of the study area to identify low moisture areas of the forest canopy and litter. The second stage of monitoring is conducted using the remote sensing platform only in the local fire-dangerous areas in order to more precisely identify the areas prone to fire and to detect and diagnose real burning zones. The developed algorithm allows the calculation of physical temperatures and the detection of temperature anomalies based on measured brightness temperatures. Finally, the spatial distribution of the probability of forest fire occurrence is given as an example of the decision-making system along with a comparison of this distribution with the satellite images provided by the EOSDIS Land data. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T11:16:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fc769f922aa842d5b987a0e240e38a58 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T11:16:40Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-fc769f922aa842d5b987a0e240e38a582022-12-21T19:42:36ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-03-0112583510.3390/rs12050835rs12050835A New Passive Microwave Tool for Operational Forest Fires Detection: A Case Study of Siberia in 2019Costas A. Varotsos0Vladimir F. Krapivin1Ferdenant A. Mkrtchyan2Department of Environmental Physics and Meteorology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 104 31 Athens, GreeceKotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 101000 Moscow, RussiaKotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 101000 Moscow, RussiaThe purpose of this paper is to present a new method for early detection of forest fires, especially in forest zones prone to fires using microwave remote sensing and information-modeling tools. A decision-making system is developed as a tool for operational coupled analysis of modeling results and remote sensing data. The main operating structure of this system has blocks that calculate the moisture of forest canopy, the soil-litter layer, and the forest physical temperature using the observed brightness temperature provided by the flying platform IL-18 equipped with passive microwave radiometers of 1.43, 13.3 and 37.5 GHz frequencies. The hydrological parameters of the forest are assessed with both a developed regional hydrological model and remote sensing observations. The hydrological model allows for the detection of fire-prone zones that are subject to remote sensing when modeling results are corrected and thermal temperatures are evaluated. An approach for the real time forest fires classification via daytime remote sensing observations is proposed. The relative theoretical and experimental results presented here have allowed us to use a new approach to forests monitoring during periods of potential fire. A decision-making algorithm is presented that aims at analyzing data flows from radiometers located on the remote sensing platform to calculate the probability of forest fire occurring in geographical pixels. As case study, the state of forest fires that occurred in Siberia in 2019 using microwave remote sensing measurements conducted by a flying IL-18 laboratory is presented. This remote sensing platform is equipped with optical and microwave tools that allow the optical and microwave images of the observed forest areas. The main operating frequencies of microwave radiometers are 1.43, 13.3 and 37.5 GHz. Microwave radiometers provide data on water content in the forest canopy and on litter and physical temperatures. Based on the long-term measurements made in Siberia, the possible improvement of the proposed decision-making system for future relevant studies is discussed in detail. The basic idea of cost-effective monitoring of forested areas consists of a two-stage exploration of fire risk zones. The first monitoring stage is performed using the hydrological model of the study area to identify low moisture areas of the forest canopy and litter. The second stage of monitoring is conducted using the remote sensing platform only in the local fire-dangerous areas in order to more precisely identify the areas prone to fire and to detect and diagnose real burning zones. The developed algorithm allows the calculation of physical temperatures and the detection of temperature anomalies based on measured brightness temperatures. Finally, the spatial distribution of the probability of forest fire occurrence is given as an example of the decision-making system along with a comparison of this distribution with the satellite images provided by the EOSDIS Land data.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/5/835remote sensingmodelforest fireprobabilitysiberiadecision making |
| spellingShingle | Costas A. Varotsos Vladimir F. Krapivin Ferdenant A. Mkrtchyan A New Passive Microwave Tool for Operational Forest Fires Detection: A Case Study of Siberia in 2019 Remote Sensing remote sensing model forest fire probability siberia decision making |
| title | A New Passive Microwave Tool for Operational Forest Fires Detection: A Case Study of Siberia in 2019 |
| title_full | A New Passive Microwave Tool for Operational Forest Fires Detection: A Case Study of Siberia in 2019 |
| title_fullStr | A New Passive Microwave Tool for Operational Forest Fires Detection: A Case Study of Siberia in 2019 |
| title_full_unstemmed | A New Passive Microwave Tool for Operational Forest Fires Detection: A Case Study of Siberia in 2019 |
| title_short | A New Passive Microwave Tool for Operational Forest Fires Detection: A Case Study of Siberia in 2019 |
| title_sort | new passive microwave tool for operational forest fires detection a case study of siberia in 2019 |
| topic | remote sensing model forest fire probability siberia decision making |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/5/835 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT costasavarotsos anewpassivemicrowavetoolforoperationalforestfiresdetectionacasestudyofsiberiain2019 AT vladimirfkrapivin anewpassivemicrowavetoolforoperationalforestfiresdetectionacasestudyofsiberiain2019 AT ferdenantamkrtchyan anewpassivemicrowavetoolforoperationalforestfiresdetectionacasestudyofsiberiain2019 AT costasavarotsos newpassivemicrowavetoolforoperationalforestfiresdetectionacasestudyofsiberiain2019 AT vladimirfkrapivin newpassivemicrowavetoolforoperationalforestfiresdetectionacasestudyofsiberiain2019 AT ferdenantamkrtchyan newpassivemicrowavetoolforoperationalforestfiresdetectionacasestudyofsiberiain2019 |