# Automatic Methodology for Forest Fire Mapping with SuperDove Imagery
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Materials  
To evaluate the performance of the Planetscope sensor images for the analysis of burned areas and fire severity, a specific methodology was applied to four selected areas affected by fire, namely, three events in August 2023 (Parnitha Mountain and Euboea in Greece, and Portbou in Spain), as well as one in September 2022 (Sierra de los Guajares in Spain). * Parnitha Mountain is located north of Attica in Greece. It is an area of great ecological and cultural importance for Greece due to its rich biodiversity, water resources, historical value, and recreational potential that make it an invaluable asset to the region. A fire started on 22 August 2023, near the Kleiston monastery in that area, causing the destruction of houses and vehicles in the suburb of Fyli. The impact of the fire was significant: it burned more than 6000 hectares of land and potentially affected many buildings [36]. * Portbou is in the Alto Ampurdan region, in the province of Gerona, Catalonia, Spain. It is a town on the border with France, located on the Mediterranean coast, about 10 km from the French border. A wildfire hit the area on 4 August 2023. The significance of the fire arises from its location in a border city near residential areas, threatening both natural habitats and human populations. The fire destroyed about 500 hectares, mainly of vegetation cover [37]. * The island of Euboea is in Greece, off the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea. It has great importance due to its diverse natural resources, its tourist attractions, and its rich biodiversity. In this sense, it is a habitat for many birds, reptiles, and mammals, including some endangered species. A fire started on 21 August 2023 and spread widely, covering a wide front that threatened valuable forests and farmland. The fire burned an area of more than 500 hectares [38]. * Sierra de Los Guajares is in the province of Granada in southern Spain. It is an area of environmental importance that has a notable variety of plant and animal life, many of which are threatened. The area is of great economic interest due to its use for farming and hunting, and its cultural heritage. A devastating wildfire swept through the region in September 2022, burning more than 5000 hectares of land, mostly forests [39]. The fires in all of these areas required the activation of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) for comprehensive analysis and support [40]. The CEMS is part of the EU Copernicus program and provides satellite-based geospatial information for disaster response and management. It offers rapid mapping for immediate response to different crises, including fire, as well as risk and recovery mapping for the planning and recovery phases. To evaluate the impact of the forest fires, a meticulous process was carried out to select images for each affected area. Two images of each study area from the SuperDove sensor in the PlanetScope constellation were chosen through detailed visual inspection. Each pair for an area comprised an image from before and another after the fire. This approach allowed for a direct and effective comparison of the conditions of the area before and after the disaster. Additionally, to ensure consistency and accuracy in damage assessment, all images were downloaded with the same settings. The downloaded products corresponded to the so-called level 3B. This is an 8-band surface reflectance product that is atmospherically corrected and orthorectified, with a spatial resolution of 3 m [41]. Thisensured that any differences observed between the pre- and post-fire images were due solely to the effects of the fire, thus eliminating any variables that could be attributed to changes in imaging settings. Figure 1 presents a side-by-side comparison of the pre-fire (first column) and post-fire (second column) images for the four distinct zones. Each row corresponds to a different location, illustrating the transformation of the landscape due to the fire event.