Improving estimates in grassland curing for Victoria, Australia using satellite remote sensing
Channel: The Royal Society of Victoria
Date: 19/08/2021

Grassland curing degree (GCD) was traditionally determined using three approaches – visual estimate, a point intercept method also known as the ‘Levy Rod’ method, and destructive sampling (Anderson et al., 2011). 

However, these methods are either costly and inefficient or lack accuracy, and they are impractical for large areas. Hence, the need for estimation of curing degree on large scale has become increasingly important for grassland fire monitoring. 

However, current satellite products have low spatial resolution that are unable to separate grasslands from other nearby land types. Melbourne would need a much higher resolution due to its large area and complex land types in the peri-urban area. 

This research establishes the use of higher spatial resolution satellite imageries for generating Grassland Curing Maps (GCMs) as an effective method for grassland curing observations. It also finds and analyse the ISV between GCMs created by various spatial resolution and builds a decision support system.

Sike (Lydia) Li is a final year PhD candidate with the School of Earth, Atmosphere & Environment at Monash University. This presentation titled "Improving estimates in grassland curing for Victoria, Australia using satellite remote sensing" comprises her entry to the Biological Sciences category of the Young Scientist Research Prizes in 2021, an annual competition conducted by the Royal Society of Victoria during National Science Week in Australia. Sike is the Second Prize winner in this category. 

Produced with the support of the Inspiring Victoria program.