Abstract
In this work, the potential of Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) imagery to map burned areas was evaluated in two study areas in Greece. For this purpose, we developed an object-based classification scheme to map the fire-disturbed areas using the PALSAR imagery acquired before and shortly after fire events. The advantage of employing an object-based approach was not only the use of the temporal variation of the backscatter coefficient, but also the incorporation in the classification of topological features, such as neighbor objects, and class related features, such as objects classified as burned. The classification scheme resulted in mapping the burned areas with satisfactory results: 0.71 and 0.82 probabilities of detection for the two study areas. Our investigation revealed that the pre-fire vegetation conditions and fire severity should be taken in consideration when mapping burned areas using PALSAR in Mediterranean regions. Overall, findings suggest that the developed scheme could be applied for rapid burned area assessment, especially to areas where cloud cover and fire smoke inhibit accurate mapping of burned areas when optical data are used.
Highlights
It is argued that wildfires have ceased to be a natural ecological factor and have become an anthropogenic factor of regular and intense occurrence [1]
In this work we investigated the potential of multi-temporal Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) imagery for burned area mapping in typical Mediterranean areas in Greece using object-based image analysis (OBIA)
The advantage of employing OBIA was the use in the classification of the temporal variations of the backscatter coefficient information in combination with additional information, such as topological features and class related features
Summary
It is argued that wildfires have ceased to be a natural ecological factor and have become an anthropogenic factor of regular and intense occurrence [1]. The increased intensity during burning in tropical regions, temperate, and boreal forests and the increasing trend in the occurrence of fire events in boreal regions as a result of climate change emphasize the importance of improving our understanding of global biomass burning [2], and underlines the need for the development of a reliable procedure to accurately and rapidly map burned areas. Satellite remote sensing is a valuable tool for fire detection, mapping, and managing fire-prone areas [2]. Optical satellite data have been extensively used and proved to be useful for mapping of burned areas [3–7]. Accurate mapping could be inhibited in areas with frequent cloud coverage, such as tropical and boreal forests [8].
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