APPROXIMATION OF A HIGH-TEMPERATURE FIRE ZONE IN THE SUB-PIXEL PROCESSING OF TERRA/MODIS DATA

1 Federal Research Center «Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the RAS» (FPC KSC SB RAS), Krasnoyarsk, Russia

2 Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the RAS – Division of the FPC KSC SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

3 Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

4 Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics, Siberian Branch of the RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

Abstract. The paper proposes an improved approach of pixel-based analysis of Terra/MODIS imagery, which enhances the accuracy of the combustion zone characteristics assessment during detection of the thermal anomalies. The study was based on the imagery of active forest fires in Siberia obtained using MODIS radiometer in the spectral ranges of 3.930–3.990, 10.780–11.280 μm (bands 21 and 31, respectively). We propose to approximate the temperature profile of the fire front using the non-uniform exponential function. Non-uniform approximation of the temperature profile of active combustion zone allows estimation of the fraction of the active Terra/MODIS pixel with the specified temperature threshold above the background temperature. This improves the accuracy of active combustion zone area estimation and classification of the heat release rate at the subpixel level. This approach is applicable to the monitoring of the phases of fire development in the near real time mode.

Keywords: remote data, active burning zone, fire radiative power, intensity, approximation, sub-pixel analysis.

About the authors

PONOMAREV Evgenii I. – Cand. Sci. (Tech.), senior researcher, Federal Research Center «Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the RAS» (FPC KSC SB RAS); Sukachev Institute of Forest of the Siberian Branch of the RAS – Division of the FPC KSC SB RAS; associated professor, Siberian Federal University. Krasnoyarsk, Russia. E-mail: evg@ksc.krasn.ru

LITVINTSEV Kirill Yu. – Cand. Sci. (Phys. and Math.), science researcher, Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics, Siberian Branch of the RAS. Novosibirsk, Russia. Tel.: +7 (391) 249-47-26. E-mail: sttupick@yandex.ru

SHVETSOV Evgeny G. – Cand. Sci. (Tech.), science researcher, Sukachev Institute of Forest of the Siberian Branch of the RAS – Division of the FPC KSC SB RAS; associated professor, Siberian Federal University. Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Tel.: +7 (391) 249-40-92. E-mail: eugeneshvetsov11@yandex.ru

FINNIKOV Konstantin A. – Cand. Sci. (Phys. and Math.), associate professor, Siberian Federal University. Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Tel.: +7 (913) 830-05-20. E-mail: f_const@mail.ru

YAKIMOV Nikita D. – undergraduate, Siberian Federal University; Institute of Ecology and Geography. Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Tel.: +7 (999) 445-23-08. E-mail: nyakimov96@mail.ru

Cite this article as: Ponomarev E.I., Litvintsev K.Yu., Shvetsov E.G., Finnikov K.A., Yakimov N.D. Approximation of a high-temperature fire zone in the sub-pixel processing of Terra/MODIS data, Geofizicheskie Protsessy i Biosfera (Geophysical Processes and Biosphere), 2019, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 97–105 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.21455/gpb2019.2-8

English version: Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics, 2019, vol. 55, iss. 8. ISSN: 0001-4338 (Print), 1555-628X (Online). https://link.springer.com/journal/volumesAndIssues/11485