USDA Forest Service Use of Direct Readout Brad Quayle USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Application

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USDA Forest Service Use of Direct ReadoutBrad
QuayleUSDA Forest Service Remote Sensing
Applications Center (RSAC)POLAR MAX
2006Silver Springs, MarylandOctober 24-26,
2006
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USFS Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC)

• National Technical Center
• Detached Washington Office unit of Engineering
  staff
• Located in Salt Lake City, Utah
• Mission Provide technical support to Forest
  Service resource specialists and managers in the
  use of remote sensing, image processing, GIS, and
  related geospatial technologies for all resource
  applications.

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USDA Forest Service
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Wildfire Activity in the United States
CONUS Normal Peak Wildfire Seasons
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Wildfire Management Strategic Response

• Nearly 700 million acres (283 million ha) managed
  by USFS and DOI
• Local agency units provide initial response to
  wildfire ignitions
• Resources for large incidents are coordinated
  regionally, nationally

USFS/DOI lands
Geographic Areas
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Wildfire Management Strategic Response

• Resource allocation decisions become more
  difficult with significant fire activity
  occurring simultaneously throughout the country
• Geospatial products that provide the current,
  comprehensive view of the location of fires and
  their cumulative extent are valuable
• Answers key strategic fire management questions
• What are the extent and number of current fires
  in a given geographic area?
• Where has a fire already burned?
• Where is it burning actively right now?
• What is the proximity of current fires to one
  another?
• How close are current fires to communities
  resources at risk?

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Convergence of Two Significant Events
2000 U.S. Fire Season
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USFS MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program

• Developed in 2001
• Operational NRT acquisition/processing of MODIS
  data
• Key MODIS Products
• Multi-spectral surface reflectance data
• Fire detection data (MOD14)
• Comprehensive coverage of CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii
  Canada

• http//activefiremaps.fs.fed.us

• http//activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/canada

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USFS MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program

• Generate value added geospatial fire products
• Current, synoptic view of the wildfire situation
  in a geospatial context
• Accurate and current information on fire
  locations, fire intensity, burned area extent and
  smoke
• Aid strategic planning and asset allocation
• Prioritize allocation of suppression assets
• Focus tactical airborne reconnaissance assets
• Monitor fire activity in remote areas
• Supports several other fire-related applications

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USFS RSAC MODIS Ground Station

• 3.1 meter Smartech Explorer Series 2600
  Installed late 2001
• MODIS direct readout coverage for western U.S.,
  Canada Mexico
• Operational DB-based algorithms
• Surface reflectance
• Fire detections

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MODIS Ground Station Network

• Primary data source
• NRT MODIS data via Direct Broadcast/Direct
  Readout
• Surface reflectance and fire detection data
  processed on site
• North America coverage provided by RSAC,
  University of Wisconsin-SSEC and University of
  Alaska-Fairbanks-GINA

UAF
SSEC
RSAC
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MODIS Rapid Response (RR) System

• Secondary data source
• Developed in 2001 by NASA-GSFC/ Univ. of Maryland
  
• Access to global MODIS data
• Rapid generation of key MODIS products for
  operational objectives
• L2 MODIS surface reflectance data
• L2 MODIS fire detection data
• Available 3 hours post acquisition
• Access to MODIS data stream via NOAA MODIS Near
  Real Time Processing System

http//rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov
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Overview MODIS Data Acquisition and Processing
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Overview MODIS Fire Mapping and Distribution
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MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program Products

• http//activefiremaps.fs.fed.us

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Regional MODIS Active Fire Maps
Northwest Geographic Area

• Regional and overview maps for U.S. Canada
• Updated several times daily
• Display current and cumulative fire activity
• Provided in JPG and PDF format
• 30,000 maps produced annually
• Map archive available

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MODIS Active Fire Map Examples
Derby Fire August 30, 2006
Day Fire September 18, 2006
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MODIS Active Fire Map Examples
Southern Nevada/Utah June 30, 2005
Cave Creek Complex June 30, 2005
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Interactive MODIS Active Fire Maps
CONUS
Alaska
Hawaii
Canada
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Interactive MODIS Active Fire Maps Examples
Available Layers MODIS, AVHRR GOES Fire
Detections NFDRS Fire Regime/Condition Class NWS
Wx Observations NWS Fire Watch/Warnings Daily
Terra/Aqua MODIS Imagery LANDSAT imagery Baseline
Cartographic data
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MODIS Fire Image Subsets
Utah - June 23, 2006

• Daily georeferenced image subsets
• Compiled from RSAC swath data
• MODIS land bands
• 3 band true and false color JPGs, GeoTiffs
• 7 band generic binary (BSQ)

Washington - September 29, 2006
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MODIS Fire Image Subset Examples
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MODIS Fire Image Subset Examples
MODIS False Color Composite June 28, 2005
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MODIS Fire Image Subset Examples
October 26, 2003 1835 UTC - True False Color
Composite
Southern California - 2003
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MODIS Fire Image Subsets

• Example Applications

Burn Area Characterization
Smoke Transport
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MODIS Fire Detection GIS Data

• Terra Aqua MODIS fire detection GIS data for
  North America
• Compiled from GSFC, RSAC, SSEC UAF MODIS Rapid
  Response
• Available for 2001 - 2006
• Updated hourly
• ESRI coverage shapefile format
• FGDC Metadata
• Web Map Service (WMS)

• Metadata

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MODIS Fire Detection GIS Data
Fire Detection Attributes Acquisition
date Acquisition time Pixel size (IFOV) Observed
brightness temperature Ground station source
Alaska Cumulative Fire Detections 2004
CONUS Cumulative Fire Detections 2003
Canada Cumulative Fire Detections 2004
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MODIS Fire Detection GIS Data

• Example Applications

Surrogate for applications requiring rapid
access to burn area data
Augment airborne TIR assets
Incident Fire Perimeter
MODIS Detection Perimeter
Data source for other online fire mapping
applications
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User Community Depends On MODIS Active Fire Data
Usage of MODIS active fire data and products
provided by Forest Service via USDA MODIS Active
Fire Mapping Program website

- complete statistics not available for entire
year - through October 9, 2006
Critical source of timely wildfire data
Data provided by MODIS Active Fire Mapping
Program is also relayed to other fire support
websites and data portals
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Future of the Program Post MODIS Era

• Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)
• 22 spectral bands (VIS to LWIR)
• 375/750 meter spatial resolution
• 3000 KM swath
• National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite
  System (NPOESS)
• NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP)
• EOS-NPOESS Bridging Mission

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MODIS Active Fire Mapping Summary

• MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program supports
  strategic fire management in North America
• Direct broadcast/direct readout technologies are
  critical to the program
• Value added geospatial products
• Operational 24/7 year round
• Supports several secondary fire mission
  objectives
• Planning towards integration of future satellite
  sensors (VIIRS)
• Collaborative effort

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Additional Information
USDA Forest Service MODIS Active Fire Mapping
Program http//activefiremaps.fs.fed.us Brad
Quayle USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing
Applications Center (RSAC) 801-975-3737 bquayle_at_fs
.fed.us