Using ECOSTRESS to Monitor Wildfire Propagation

Monitoring wildfire spread is a critical research need as fire intensity has increased and the impacts have become more severe. Wildfire monitoring techniques have improved over the years, with satellite remote sensing serving as a reliable tool to monitor fire characteristics including temperature and location. However, satellite data is limited by long revisit times for a given area of interest, often ranging on average from 5-10 days apart depending on the orbit. This is important because once a fire starts it can spread at rates on the order of tens of miles per hour, or faster if the weather and wind conditions allow. Thus, there is a need for fast detection and near real-time monitoring to manage these events. ECOTRESS (ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station) is a high-resolution (~70×70 m) imaging spectrometer with a 4-day average revisit time that measures land surface temperature using two thermal bands. Its high spatial resolution and short revisit times enable ECOSTRESS to identify and monitor the rate of spread and fire front propagation, allowing to better understand the behavior of a given fire. Our work demonstrates how ECOSTRESS may be employed to monitor wildfire events by investigating the relationship between Land Surface Temperature and the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR). Preliminary results have shown a relationship that varies in accordance with the level of burn severity detected post-fire, versus identified high temperature areas during the fire. This is done using the top largest wildfires in California over the last few years as case studies. Understanding the severity of a wildfire is key to determining the effects and future wildfire risks on the ecosystem, as well as the action plan to restore and rehabilitate the area and its infrastructures.