Remote sensing of post-fire effects

Sander Veraverbeke, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, sander.s.veraverbeke@jpl.nasa.gov (Presenter)
Glynn Hulley, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, glynn.hulley@jpl.nasa.gov
Sarah Harris, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, sarah.harris@monash.edu
Simon J. Hook, JPL, simon.j.hook@jpl.nasa.gov

Wildfires are an important disturbance in almost all terrestrial ecosystems. They influence the Earth's carbon budget and affect post-fire landscape composition. Assessing post-fire effects is of particular interest for resource managers. The post-fire environment is characterized by different temporal phases. During the immediate post-fire phase the fire damage, i.e. fire severity, is assessed. From a longer term perspective, post-fire vegetation recovery starts governing the post-fire environment. Thanks to its synoptic nature and repeated coverage remote sensing is well suited to monitor post-fire environments. This poster presents early results on the suitability of different spectral indices for assessing post-fire effects. One application focuses on the large 2011 Wallow fire in Arizona, whereas a second applications deals with wildfires in southern California chaparral shrublands. In addition, an outlook for future research is given.

Presentation: 2011_Poster_Veraverbeke_90_230.pdf (1486k)

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Coupled Processes at Land-Atmosphere-Ocean Interfaces   (Mon 4:00 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Jin, Yufang: Fires in Southern California: Interactions between climate change, ecosystems, and humans ...details

Poster Location ID: 90