Methodologies for estimating areaburned using satellite-based firedata: Near-Real-Timeexamples from Oregon and Arizona.Amber Soja, Jassim Al-Saadi, Louis Giglio, Dave Randall,Tom Moore, Joe Kordzi, David J. Williams,Chieko Kittaka, Biswadev A. Roy, George Pouliot,Sean Raffuse, Tom Pierce, Tom Pace,Brad Pierce and James SzykmanPhoto courtesy of Brian Stocks16thAnnual EmissionsInventory Conference, 2007General PurposeQuantify the ability of satellite datato define area burnedin an effort to enhance the spatial andtemporal estimates of biomassburning and emissionsby comparing ground- to satellitebased fire data.1 year after fireSpecific Purpose* Compare coincidentsatellite-basedfire detections to ground data* Compare all fire detectionstoground-based data* Compare an area burned productMotivationBiomass burning:Major contributor of particulatematter and other pollutants.Poorly defined.Impedes the ability of regions toachieve National Ambient AirQuality Standards for PM 2.5and ozone.No standard biomass burningproducts exist for the UnitedStates.Fireweed1 year after burnSatellite imagery offers:(1) the opportunity to objectively remotelysense fire across governmentaland private boundaries and(2) the data is available in Near-Real-Time.Biomass burning emissions estimates arecontinually improved and modified but are basedon the original work of Seiler and Crutzen, 1980Total direct carbon emissions (Ct)Ct= BfcβA is area;B is biomass density;fcis carbon fraction of the biomass;βis the fraction of biomass consumedEmissions factors or ratiosto estimate species specific emissionsStep TwoStep OneATwo satellite products(1) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)and(2 ) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (ABBA)MODISsun-synchronous orbittwice daily (terra & aqua)spatial resolution 1 km2GOESgeostationary orbit15 minute (east & west)spatial resolution 16 km2MethodologySpatial and temporal analysis ofMODIS, GOES and Western Region AirPartnership (WRAP) data forOregon ArizonaJuly 2002 September and August 2002** Additions-Relax the space and time criteria to morerealistically define coincidence based on previouslessons learned.-Assess a methodology for defining area burned.MODIS data processingMODIS Terra and Aqua data aredownloaded from theRapid Response Fire teamExclude data that are < 20% confidentConvert the point data toArcGIS shape filesThese are point data, no areaBuffered the data to 0.5 km (size of pixel) toaccount for the instrument spatial resolutionBuffered data an additional 1 km to accountfor the Point Response FunctionFireweedGOES data processingDownloaded data from the historic filtered ABBA datawebsite: Fire Locating and Modeling of Burning Emissions(FLAMBE)Integrated 1⁄2 hour data from GOES east & west into daily filesCombined data from GOES east and GOES westDelete low probability fire data (flag 5)Average the area of processed data (flag 0) and assign theaverage area to flags 1 – 4 (in each state). Generate a cumulative ArcGIS shape file. Polygons aredefined by area. ** **Data are buffered to 5 km to account for the instrumentspatial resolution and the Point Response Function  Area computed for the process data (flag 0) represents theinstantaneous fire area burning ** **Western Region Air Partnershipor WRAP Ground Fire DataInventories prepared for 2002 emissionsinventories for wildfire, wildland fire use,prescribed burning in wildlands,non-federalrangeland fires and agriculturalburning.(209 reports, NIFMD/USFS, SACS/1202, DEQreports, state and local data, etc.)These data have been checked, geolocated andquality control reviewed by Air Sciences Inc.TreatmentData are converted to ArcGIS shape files,where area defines the polygon size.We concentrate on fires that burned inOregon, July 2002 and inArizona, August and September 2002.P. Sibericaunder aP. SylvestriscanopyZoom to data:MODIS and GOES, area and buffered dataZoom – Note the size and number of fire records surrounding theWRAP fire data (red buffered with reported area in rose).(16,925 acres, 69 km2July 25-31, 2002)Aqua68 recordsJuly 18-29, 2002Terra132 recordsJuly 23-31, 2002GOES28.39 km2July 7-21, 2002August 06, 2002August 22,2002July 21, 2002July 05, 2002September 07, 2002JulyBufferedsatellitedataEvolution of the Biscuit fireAllsatellitepointdataCriteria for Coincidence(1) Time- Satellite data must be within daysor contiguous days of the timeframereported in the WRAP data,excluding agricultural andrangeland data.(2) Space- Center of MODIS pixel must bewith 3 km of reported fire (WRAP)and GOES within 10 km.or- When a buffered space overlapsanother buffered space, even thoughit is not physically touching theWRAP data, it is still considered topotentially be coincident.1 year after burnThere is error in the ground-based data.Several agencies do not report fires that burn < 100acres (0.40 km2) in a day.One of these fires fits ourcurrent temporal criteria andthe other does not.All the satellites detect fire butthere is no coincidentground data.Spatial coincidencein satellite- andground-basedfire data.Oregon, July 2002Combinedsatellite,all fires53 %[ 41 %]All satellites, allarea 181%Combinedrepresentativesatellite area97%500,555(1.98 –54400.5)[21,570Agric. acres]296[312]Oregon ground,101 fires,mean 1691acres[Agric. Fires]mean 69 acres12 %43 %[< 2 %]94%,98%(detect = 1km2)[10% Ag area]350,643(fromdetections)1984MODIS Aqua[Agric. Fires]10 %37 %[< 2 %]126%,131%(detect = 1km2)[10% Ag area]682,268(fromdetections)2761MODIS Terra[Agric. Fires]34 %34 %[34 %]37%,32%(Instantaneous)[20% Ag area]197,655(1.16 –806.66)1996GOES ABBA[Agric. Fires]% # all firescoincident% # non-ag% # ag% area burnedall grnd. data,% area non-ag% area agNon – Agacres burned(range)NumberofrecordsData sourceR2= 0.72R2= 0.84R2= 0.8701002003004005006007008009000 100 200 300 400 500Ground-based area burned (km2)

Satellite-based area burned ( kTerraAquaGOESOregon July, 2002:Coincident satellite- and ground-based fire data.[wildfire, wildland fire use, prescribed burning in wildlands]* Notedifferencein axis

Satellite-based area burned (km

2 )ArizonaAugust andSeptember2002Spatial coincidencein satellite- andground-basedfire data.Combinedsatellite20%All sat. 171 %,Representativearea 40%,w/out rangeland69%22,613 acresmean 113 acres,range(0.5 - 1598)18,750 acres165 fires201records34 nonfed rangeArizonagroundfire data,Non-federalrangeland12%,12%76 % all(1km2detection)31,382 acres(from detections)162MODIS Aqua14%,15%77 % all(1km2detection)31,877 acres(from detections)168MODIS Terra5%,5%18 % all(Instantaneous)7358 acres169GOES ABBA% # firescoincident,% #withoutRngeland,Percentarea burned,all dataNon-federalrangelandacres burnedNon-federalRangelandNumberofrecordsData source(1 km2= 247 acres or 100 ha)R2= 0.95R2= 0.99R2= 0.6501020304050600 5 10 15 20 25Ground-based area burned (km2)

Satellite-b ased area burned ( kTerraAquaGOESArizona: September and August, 2002Coincident satellite- and ground-based fire data.[wildfire, wildland fire use, prescribed burning in wildlands]

Satellite-based area burned (km

2 )* Notedifferencein axisTypically large fires accountfor the greatest amount ofarea burned and emissions.In Canada, the largest 2-3% of the fires account for 97-98% of the area burned (Stocks, 1991).Alaskan fire records show that since 1950, 96% of areaburned is by large (> 2000 ha) fires (AFS, 1992).In Oregon (July 2002), the largest 10% of the fire eventsaccount for 80% of the area burned(largest 2% - 40% area burned).In Arizona (September and August 2002), thisrelationship does not hold due to rangeland fires. (w/outrnglnds, lgst 10% fires - 74% area burned).Photo courtesy of Brian StocksTotal area comparisonusing detections and instantaneous area,without coincidence consideration.All values in Km223% of WRAPall MODIS 197% > WRAPArizona38% of WRAPall MODIS 225% > WRAPOregonTotal percent difference16738162168Arizona211380019842761OregonWRAPGOESinstantaneousareaMODIS AquaMODIS TerraBiscuit fireJuly 2002 analysisMODIS (Terra and Aqua) dataCombined,buffered to 0.50 radius(1 pixel area = 0.79 km2)and aggregated(overlap removed).August 22, 2002July 21, 2002July 05, 2002Evolutionof theBiscuitfireJuly AnalysisBiscuit –July 14-31, 2002115,500 acres455 km2Carter –July 13, 200225 acres0.10 km2Ground-basedarea burnedFire detections(1 detect = 1 km2)Aqua423 recordsJuly 11-29, 2002Terra746 recordsJuly 14-31, 2002(MODIS 257% >)GOES231.79 km2July 4-31, 2002 (51%)Area burned product482.94 km2(6% >)Fire product generated from lessons learned:MODIS data combined, buffered and aggregatedplusGOES data in agricultural lands x 5Total area captured:Arizona - 81% of all fires(wildfire, prescribed and rangeland)Oregon - 92% of all fires(wildfire, prescribed and agricultural)Photo courtesy of Brian StocksPhoto courtesy of Brian Stocks23% of WRAPall MODIS 197% > WRAPArizona38% of WRAPall MODIS 225% > WRAPOregonTotal percent difference16738162168Arizona211380019842761OregonWRAPGOESinstantaneousareaMODIS AquaMODIS TerraSatellite and ground comparisonAll data including non-coincidentMODIS area burned productTotal area captured:Arizona - 81% of all fires (wildfire, prescribed and rangeland)Oregon - 92% of all fires (wildfire, prescribed and agricultural)ConclusionsOregon53 % of the number of fires are identified by satellite97 % of the combined area burned is identified by satelliteTotal area comparison (coincident and non-coincident)MODIS 225%; GOES 38 %GOES identifies 34% of Agric. fires (Terra and Aqua < 2%)Arizona20 % of the number of fires are identified by satellite69 % of the area burned is identified by satelliteTotal area comparison (coincident and non-coincident)MODIS 197 %; GOES 23 %Total area captured with a combined product:Arizona - 81% of all fires (wildfire, prescribed and rangeland)Oregon - 92% of all fires (wildfire, prescribed and agricultural)Ultimately, biomass emission estimates could be greatlyimproved with the addition of a satellite-based areaburned product. These data have the potential to movethe science and remotely-sensed emissions forward.Photo courtesy ofBrian StocksAcknowledgementsAcknowledgementsElainePrinsand Chris Schmidtand Chris SchmidtNASA Langley Research Center, EnvironmentalNASA Langley Research Center, EnvironmentalProtection Agency, Regional PlanningProtection Agency, Regional PlanningOrganizations, NOAA, Air Sciences Inc.,Organizations, NOAA, Air Sciences Inc.,SSAI, Sonoma TechnologiesSSAI, Sonoma TechnologiesandNational Institute of AerospaceNational Institute of AerospaceMODISAquaPredictedSequentialOrbitAverage Spectra from Helicopter: Yartsevo 2002local time ~ 16:00 - 18:00, Field Of View 42m00.050.10.150.20.250.30.35350 850 1350 1850 2350Wavelength (nm)

ReflectanceBogUnburnedforestBurnedModerate 2001Burned Low2001BurnedModerate 2002AVHRRchannelsCh. 1 Ch. 2(Soja unpublished data)Active FireDetected by AVHRRchannel 3 (3.7um)ConsiderationsClouds prohibit detection.Fire size?Fire intensity?Viewing angle of satellite?Instrument spatial resolution?Instrument temporal resolution?Identifying burn scarsin AVHRR imageryTotal Biscuit fire3077 km2 or 769,338 acresTerra 2672 Aqua 147526% greater, keeping in mind Aqua 1ststarted recoding in July