Integrated Satellite System for Fire Detection and Prioritization

Giuseppe Mazzeo,Antonio Lanorte,Nicola Pergola,Alfredo Falconieri,Carla Pietrapertosa,Teodosio Lacava,Fortunato De Santis,Valeria Satriano,Gabriele Nolè,Carolina Filizzola,Francesco Marchese

doi:10.3390/rs14020335

Abstract

Several studies have shown the relevance of satellite systems in detecting, monitoring, and characterizing fire events as support to fire management activities. On the other hand, up to now, only a few satellite-based platforms provide immediately and easily usable information about events in progress, in terms of both hotspots, which identify and localize active fires, and the danger conditions of the affected area. However, this kind of information is usually provided through separated layers, without any synthetic indicator which, indeed, could be helpful, if timely provided, for planning the priority of the intervention of firefighting resources in case of concurrent fires. In this study, we try to fill these gaps by presenting an Integrated Satellite System (ISS) for fire detection and prioritization, mainly based on the Robust Satellite Techniques (RST), and the Fire Danger Dynamic Index (FDDI), an original re-structuration of the Índice Combinado de Risco de Incêndio Florestal (ICRIF), for the first time presented here. The system, using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) data, provides near real-time integrated information about both the fire presence and danger over the affected area. These satellite-based products are generated in common formats, ready to be ingested in Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies. Results shown and discussed here, on the occasion of concurrent winter and summer fires in Italy, in agreement with information from independent sources, demonstrate that the ISS system, operating at a regional/national scale, may provide an important contribution to fire prioritization. This may result in the mitigation of fire impact in populated areas, infrastructures, and the environment.

Highlights

Wildfires are one of the most important causes of ecosystem degradation because of their strong impact on flora, fauna, and soils [1,2,3]
The test included fires occurring in the summertime, when meteorological conditions are generally favorable for satellite fire surveillance, as well as the events occurring in the winter season, when dense and persistent cloud coverage is more frequent and capable of obscuring active fires, making them more difficult to be continuously monitored
We have presented an automatic satellite-based system for fire detection and prioritization that, for the first time, integrates two different approaches

Summary

Introduction

Wildfires are one of the most important causes of ecosystem degradation because of their strong impact on flora, fauna, and soils [1,2,3]. Fires influence the soil structure, plant nutrition, composition, and competition among species. Wildfires represent a huge problem on a global scale. A large increase in the fire rate has been recorded globally, with social impacts including the loss of human life, and economic effects, such as damage to houses and infrastructures as well as impacts on the climate. Examples are the devastating fires occurring in 2019–2020 in Siberia [4,5,6], Australia [6,7,8,9,10], and South America [6,11,12,13]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion