GC23E-1186
Improving Nocturnal Fire Detection with the VIIRS Day-Night Band
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Thomas Norbert Polivka1, Jun Wang1, Luke Ellison2, Charles M Ichoku2 and Edward J. Hyer3, (1)University of Nebraska Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States, (2)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)Naval Research Laboratory, Marine Meteorology Division, Monterey, CA, United States
Abstract:
Using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), this study investigates the adjustment of fire pixel selection criteria to include visible light signatures at night, creating the Firelight Detection Algorithm (FILDA). This allows for greatly improved detection of smaller and cooler fires from satellite observations. VIIRS scenes with coincident Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) overpasses are examined after applying the operational VIIRS fire product algorithm and including a modified “candidate fire pixel selection” approach, which lowers the 4 micron brightness temperature threshold from 305 K but includes a minimum day-night band (DNB) radiance. FILDA is tested by applying it to scenes in different environments, including large forest fires like the Rim Fire in California and High Park fire in Colorado, in addition to gas flares. A large increase in the number of detected fire pixels is observed with small non-agricultural wildfires, as verified with the finer-resolution ASTER data (90 m). Quantitative use of the DNB to improve detection of these smaller fires could lead to reduced warning and response times as well as provide more accurate quantification of biomass burning emissions at night.
