# The DLR FireBIRD Small Satellite Mission: Evaluation of Infrared Data for Wildfire Assessment
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Description of Study Regions  
For the selection of study sites, the wildfire mapping activations of the Center for Satellite-Based Crisis Information (ZKI) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have been used as a guideline. The study sites presented in Table 2 comprise all six activations primarily based on FireBIRD data for the years of 2016 to 2020.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Incident** & **Brief Description of the Wildfires Analyzed,** \\  & **as Reported by the Center for Satellite-Based Crisis Information (ZKI)** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} Portugal \\ August 2016 \\ \end{tabular} } & In August 2016, wildfires were raging in northern Portugal as well as on Madeira. An emergency has been declared for the region of Porto. Four persons were killed, and more than 1000 inhabitants had to be evacuated [31]. \\  & ZKI: _DLR FireBIRD mission provides data of recent fires in Portugal_ (19 August 2016, [[https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT129.html](https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT129.html)]([https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT129.html](https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT129.html)) [32]) \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} Palestine \& Israel \\ November 2016 \\ \end{tabular} } & Wildfires occurred in the Israeli forests west of Jerusalem as well as the West Bank in November 2016. The city of Haifa was severely affected, tens of thousands of people had to leave their homes. Fortunately, no deaths or serious injuries have been reported [33]. \\  & ZKI: _DLR FireBIRD mission provides data of recent fires in Israel and the West Bank_ (1 December 2016, [[https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT131.html](https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT131.html)]([https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT131.html](https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT131.html)) [34]) \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{\
\begin{tabular}{c} Chile \\ January 2017 \\ \end{tabular} } & Due to massive wildfire outbreaks, Chile had to declare a state of emergency after the fires had devastated an area of several thousands of square kilometers northeast of Concepcion. The fires comprised 18 separate blazes, which were intensified by strong winds and a heat wave [35]. \\  & ZKI: _Fire disaster in Chile_—ZKI uses FireBIRD to deliver situational information_ (24 January 2017, [[https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT133.html](https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT133.html)]([https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT133.html](https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/ACT133.html)) [36]) \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} California/USA \\ December 2017 \\ \end{tabular} } & Southern California experienced several rapidly moving brush fires in December 2017. Tens of thousands of residents had to be evacuated [37]. \\  & ZKI: _FireBIRD monitors forest fires in California_ (19 December 2017, [[https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/act137.html](https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/act137.html)]([https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/act137.html](https://activations.zki.dlr.de/de/activations/items/act137.html)) [38]) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: Description of study incidents.