Using Remote Sensing to Monitor the Risk of Wildfires in California

Elaine Snyder July 26, 2011 SARP Final Presentation Faculty Advisor: Susan Ustin Research Mentor: Shawn Kefauver

CaliforniaWildres
In2008
3593res 380,310acres 1,027structuresdestroyed $899,308,348indamage

Goal:wildrewarningand awarenessviaremotesensingtechniques

Why remote sensing?

FasterdatacollecIon DatacollecIonover mulIpleImeperiods Moreareacovered GoodresoluIon MulIspectraldata Noendangermentof humanlife

WildreHazardIndex(H)
EquaIonadaptedfromChuvieco,etal.1989. ApplicaIonofRemoteSensingandGeographic InformaIonSystemstoForestFireHazardMapping LowerH=higherriskofareabeingburned

H=1+100V+30S+10A+5R+2E
V=vegetaIon S=slope A=aspect R=proximitytoroads E=elevaIon

VegetaIon
Firesspreadmoreeasilyinareaswithdenser anddriervegetaIon Low(V=2):sparseshrub,vineyards,almond trees,orangetrees Medium(V=1):shrubandsparsepine,dense shrub,mediumshrub High(V=0):denseandmediumdensepinetrees

Slope
Heatrises Low(S=2):0%12% Medium(S=1):13%40% High(S=0):41%+

Aspect
Fireispropagatedbywind Low(A=2):North Medium(A=1):Southwest High(A=0):South

ProximitytoRoads
Humanscausemanywildres Buerzone:150mfromtrails,50mfromroads Low(R=1):outsidebuerzone High(R=0):withinbuerzone

ElevaIon
Low(E=2):06m Medium(E=1):6397m High(E=0):398m+

BasinComplexFire2008
NearBigSur,CA inPfeierBig SurStatePark Startedon June21,2008 Containedon July27,2008 Burned162,818 acres

Data
ImagesfromMASTERbeforeandaierthere June11,2008August26,2008

Methods
Correctedfor atmosphere Georeferenced Tentestsites:
Sevenwhereburnt areaswerevisible Threewhere vegetaIonlooked normal

CalculaIngCoecients
VegetaIon(Weight=100)
Knowtreesinforestarepredominantlypine Heavilyforestedareasweremarkedashigh Rockyareasmarkedaslow

Slope(Weight=30)
calculatedwithbothUSGSDigitalElevaIonModel dataandMASTERdata UsedTopographicModelingfeatureinENVIto extractslope

ElevaIon(Weight=2)
UsedbothUSGSDEMandMASTERdata

CalculaIngCoecients,cont.
Aspect(Weight=10)
ChangedraIngsystemtobeconsistentwith averagewinddirecIoninthestatepark CalculatedwithUSGSDEMandMASTERdata UsedTopographicModelingtondaspect

Roads(Weight=5)
Usedbeforeimage InENVI,usedtheSPEARtoolstotraceroads Distancebetweensitesandroads/trailswere measured

USGSDEMvs.MASTERdata
Fairlyconsistent Mostdiscrepancieswereresolvedwhen valueswereseparatedintocoecient categories Whencoecientsdiered,thevaluefrom MASTERwasused

Results
Sitesthatappearedburnt intheaierimagehada muchlowerHvaluethan thosethatwerenotburnt
16
Highvalues=lowrisk Lowvalues=highrisk

26 6 16

233 223

205

21

Conclusions
TheChuviecoequaIon,modiedforthe Californiaenvironment,isagoodpredictorof wildrehazards Thiscombinedwithweatherfactors,suchas drought,couldbeusedforbenerwildre warnings

Acknowledgements
ShawnKefauver Dr.SusanUsIn Thelandgroup Dr.EmilySchaller Dr.RickShener SARP NSERC

References
Chuvieco,Emilio,andRussellG.Congalton."ApplicaIonofRemoteSensingandGeographic InformaIonSystemstoForestFireHazardMapping."RemoteSensingEnvironment29 (1989):14759.
Meyer,Bill."CaliforniaFireghtersMustPickBanlesinWild."ClevelandOHLocalNews.30June2008. Web.26July2011.hnp://www.cleveland.com/naIon/index.ssf/2008/06/ calif_reghters_must_pick_b.html PicturesfromTheBigPictureBlog<www.boston.com/bigpicture>

QuesIons?