Remotely Sensed Estimates of Fire Radiative Energy

A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 8306

Special Issue Editors

Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Interests: wildfire; fire; remote sensing; land cover; land use
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Guest Editor
U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT 59808, USA
Interests: wildland fire; remote sensing; fire danger rating systems; firefighter safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Heat produced from fire, often measured as heat yield (MJ kg-1), is thermal energy transferred via conduction, convection, vaporization, and radiation, and provides a metric of the total potential energy released if complete combustion of the fuel occurs. It is the radiative component estimated from Earth observing (EO) satellite sensors, providing synoptic monitoring of this global fire phenomenon.

Satellite estimates of the instantaneous radiative power emitted from fires, and the corresponding time-integrated fire radiative energy (FRE), offer fire characterization (e.g., intensity) as well as relationships to derive other metrics such as biomass consumption and plume injection heights. 

Employing the Stefan–Boltzmann law, a detected fire pixel’s instantaneous energy, or power (megawatts), can be estimated. The law states that the power radiated per unit area across all wavelengths is proportional to the thermodynamic temperature of the fire (assumed to be a black body) raised to the fourth power.  Kaufman et al. (1998) introduced the idea of fire radiative energy (FRE) from remote sensing and the relationship with biomass combustion and emissions, developing an empirical relationship between the brightness temperature and rate of thermal radiative energy. The algorithm was later refined by Wooster et al. (2003, 2012) in which FRP is approximated using the detected radiance rather than brightness temperature, atmospheric transmittance for the 4 µm channel is accounted for, and a sensor-specific empirical constant is used.

Numerous studies in laboratory and field settings have also sought to parameterize how FRP and FRE vary with vegetation type, fuel properties, and canopy coverage, among other factors. Research has also explored using FRP and FRE in a predictive capacity to assess smoke plume dynamics and source characterization, forecast vegetation mortality and long-term recovery, and assess the occurrence of disasters at global scales.

Advances in sensors and algorithms have continued to evolve, and the application of FRP and FRE have expanded, but questions of accuracy, precision, and uncertainty still remain. Specific topics include, but are not limited to:

  • FRP/FRE and fire behavior or spread modeling;
  • FRP/FRE and smoke plume dynamics;
  • Biomass consumption using FRP/FRE;
  • Emissions estimates using FRP/FRE and maximum FRP;
  • Disaster assessments using maximum FRP;
  • Novel approaches to estimate FRP and FRE;
  • Laboratory and field assessments of FRP/FRE;
  • Sources of variability in radiative fraction;
  • FRP/FRE and vegetation mortality and recovery;
  • Inter-sensor comparisons of FRP/FRE approximation;
  • Blended product development;
  • Uncertainty analysis;
  • Product validation;
  • Sensor development.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Remote Sensing.

Dr. Alistair M. S. Smith
Dr. Evan Ellicott
Dr. Patrick H. Freeborn
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • fire radiative energy
  • satellite estimates
  • biomass
  • thermal radiative energy
  • fire

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3429 KiB  
Article
Intense Wildfires in Russia over a 22-Year Period According to Satellite Data
by Valery G. Bondur, Kristina A. Gordo, Olga S. Voronova, Alla L. Zima and Natalya V. Feoktistova
Fire 2023, 6(3), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6030099 - 2 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4918
Abstract
The spatiotemporal distributions of wildfire areas and FRP values for the territory of Russia and its large regions (the European part of Russia, as well as the Ural, Siberian, and Far Eastern Federal Districts) during 2001–2022 were analyzed using satellite data. For the [...] Read more.
The spatiotemporal distributions of wildfire areas and FRP values for the territory of Russia and its large regions (the European part of Russia, as well as the Ural, Siberian, and Far Eastern Federal Districts) during 2001–2022 were analyzed using satellite data. For the territory of Russia, there was a decreasing trend in annual burned areas and a small increase in average hotspot FRP. At the same time, the largest annual burned areas in the territory of Russia were recorded in 2008 (295.2 thous. km2), 2002 (272.4 thous. km2), 2006 (261.2 thous. km2), and in 2012 (258.4 thous. km2). It was found that during the studied period, 90% of fire hotspots in Russia had a maximum FRP < 100 MW. The most intense wildfires (FRP > 1500 MW) amounted to only 0.1% and were detected mainly in the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts. Interconnections between large wildfires and meteorological factors, including blocking activity in the atmosphere, were revealed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remotely Sensed Estimates of Fire Radiative Energy)
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18 pages, 3068 KiB  
Article
Fire Characterization by Using an Original RST-Based Approach for Fire Radiative Power (FRP) Computation
by Carolina Filizzola, Alfredo Falconieri, Teodosio Lacava, Francesco Marchese, Guido Masiello, Giuseppe Mazzeo, Nicola Pergola, Carla Pietrapertosa, Carmine Serio and Valerio Tramutoli
Fire 2023, 6(2), 48; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6020048 - 26 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2179
Abstract
Fire radiative power (FRP) is a basic parameter for fire characterization since it represents the heat emission rate of fires. Moreover, its temporal integration (fire radiative energy, FRE) is used as a proxy for estimating biomass burning and emissions. From satellite, FRP is [...] Read more.
Fire radiative power (FRP) is a basic parameter for fire characterization since it represents the heat emission rate of fires. Moreover, its temporal integration (fire radiative energy, FRE) is used as a proxy for estimating biomass burning and emissions. From satellite, FRP is generally computed by comparing the Medium InfraRed (MIR) signal of the fire pixel with the background value on the event image. Such an approach is possibly affected by some issues due to fire extent, clouds and smoke over the event area. The enlargement of the background window is the commonly used gimmick to face these issues. However, it may include unrepresentative signals of the fire pixel because of very different land use/cover. In this paper, the alternative Background Radiance Estimator by a Multi-temporal Approach (BREMA), based on the Robust Satellite Technique (RST), is proposed to characterize background and compute FRP. The approach is presented using data from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) onboard the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) platform. Moreover, BREMA is here combined with the RST-FIRES (RST for FIRES detection) technique for fire pixel identification and the σ-SEVIRI retrieval algorithm for transmittance evaluation. Results compared to the operational SEVIRI-based FRP-PIXEL product, although highly correlated in terms of background radiance (r2 = 0.95) and FRP values (r2 = 0.96), demonstrated a major capability of BREMA to estimate background radiances regardless of cloudiness or smoke presence during the event and independently on fire extent. The possible impact of the proposed approach on the estimates of CO2 emissions was also evaluated for comparison with the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED4s). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remotely Sensed Estimates of Fire Radiative Energy)
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