Remote Sensing Mapping of Peat-Fire-Burnt Areas: Identification among Other Wildfires

Andrey Sirin,Maria Medvedeva

doi:10.3390/rs14010194

Abstract

Peat fires differ from other wildfires in their duration, carbon losses, emissions of greenhouse gases and highly hazardous products of combustion and other environmental impacts. Moreover, it is difficult to identify peat fires using ground-based methods and to distinguish peat fires from forest fires and other wildfires by remote sensing. Using the example of catastrophic fires in July–August 2010 in the Moscow region (the center of European Russia), in the present study, we consider the results of peat-fire detection using Terra/Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) hotspots, peat maps, and analysis of land cover pre- and post-fire according to Landsat-5 TM data. A comparison of specific (for detecting fires) and non-specific vegetation indices showed the difference index ΔNDMI (pre- and post-fire normalized difference moisture Index) to be the most effective for detecting burns in peatlands according to Landsat-5 TM data. In combination with classification (both unsupervised and supervised), this index offered 95% accuracy (by ground verification) in identifying burnt areas in peatlands. At the same time, most peatland fires were not detected by Terra/Aqua MODIS data. A comparison of peatland and other wildfires showed the clearest differences between them in terms of duration and the maximum value of the fire radiation power index. The present results may help in identifying peat (underground) fires and their burnt areas, as well as accounting for carbon losses and greenhouse gas emissions.

Highlights

Academic Editor: Sergey PulinetWildfires are catastrophic hazards and are occurring with increased frequency and magnitude due to climate change and human influence [1]
With a total area of 44,329 km2, the eastern part of the region is dominated by peatlands, with peat bogs and drained peatlands covering over 2500 km2 or almost 6% of the territory [39]
To prevent future peat fires, 77 drained peatlands with a total area of 73,049 ha were rewetted in the Moscow region in between

Summary

Introduction

Academic Editor: Sergey PulinetWildfires are catastrophic hazards and are occurring with increased frequency and magnitude due to climate change and human influence [1]. Peat fires stand out for their impact on land and climate, as these fires affect the most carbonrich terrestrial ecosystems. The amount of carbon stored in peats exceeds that stored in vegetation [2]. Peat fires are characterized by smoldering combustion. Peat fires produce greenhouse gases (GHG) [7] and release large amounts of ancient carbon, equivalent to approximately 15% of human-induced emissions [8,9]. Smoke compounds are very dangerous to human health [5,10]. This factor was especially evident during the catastrophic forest-peat fires in the center of European Russia in July–August

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