Brazil: Ten Years Monitoring and Mapping Fires in Brazil, Current Products and Information Networks (IFFN No. 22 – April 2000)
brTen Years Monitoring and MappingFires in Brazil
Current Products and Information Networks
(IFFN No. 22 – April 2000, p. 15-18)
Introduction
The burned areas in Brazil have been the cause of much concern and controversy. The burnings affect many ecological and agricultural systems, creating negative environmental impacts on both local and regional level. Unlike the temperate forests, the Brazilian tropical forests (Amazon and Atlantic forests) do not burn by accident, nor because of lightnings, not even if someone sets fire on them. Almost all the different kinds of forests that occur in the Amazon Basin and in the Atlantic Coastal areas are too humid to burn. Many of them – like Igapó forests or palm tree forests – are literally under the water, six to eight months a year. The so-called terra firme forests (“highlands” vegetation) are the driest forest types. But even there, accidental fires only occur if the vegetation is disturbed as a consequence of logging and trails formed by hunters trails. Here, branches and leaves are exposed to the sun and become dry and highly flammable after a very dry season. During the last 10 years of the fire monitoring programme extremely large wildfires on uncut forested areas were observed only twice: at a very disturbed area near Santarém, state of Pará, and at Roraima State, both during severe dry seasons, due to El Niño episodes.
In the Brazilian Amazon forests fire is used because it is the cheapest way to reduce the logging residuals, to control weeds and pests, to renew pastures and to harvest some crops (specially sugar cane). Trees have to be cut down, then dried during a period of several months, to be ready for burning. That is why Brazilians distinguish burnings (queimadas) from wildfires (incêndios). Burnings are made purposely. Wildfires can be the result of uncontrolled burnings, that reach the native vegetation, besides all other well known fire causes, e.g. cigarettes on roadside grasslands, lightnings, arson, etc.
Some 20% of the Amazon region, however, is covered by grasslands or savannahs (, called cerrados) with small dispersed trees. Like the African savannahs, this vegetation burns easily and periodically. But, still there, natural fires are minor. The cerrados usually are the first patches of wildland occupied by farmers and settlers, because it demands less efforts to be cultivated. The burnings, in fact, have been occurring all over Brazil for centuries.
By 1987, the NOAA/AVHRR images were first successfully tested to identify the burnings. The team at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in São Paulo state used the temperature sensor of the North American meteorological satellite (NOAA AVHRR) to localize burning and burned areas. Their purpose was to produce a list of geographical coordinates, spotting the major fires for the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA), supposed to fiscalize those burnings in the field. In 1988, the scientists decided to send the information also to the press. The Agência Estado (AE) news wire service started a public campaign to stop the Amazon burnings, using this data.
The monitoring of the burnings became a routine. Since 1988, burnings are listed and counted every day, during the whole dry season (from June to October or November), not only on the Amazon Basin, but all over Brazil and, sometimes also on the territories of neighbour countries. After the main media campaign against the Amazon burnings, in 1989 and 1990, Brazilian scientists started to produce better maps. An agreement was made among INPE, AE, the Environmental Monitoring Center (NMA) and an NGO called Ecoforce (Ecoforce – Research & Development <http://www.ecof.org.br>) in order to produce maps that could be easily understood by the general public. Developing activities, through agreements and scientific partnerships, the NMA adjusted and spread out knowledge in the geoprocessing applications area (remote sensing and digital cartography) for agriculture and the environment. Acting over all national territory, it assists federal, state, and municipal entities and the private initiative.
Current Products and Information Networks
Since 1991, as a public service of information, weekly burnings maps were published on several newspapers with an interpretation. A mapping system is also available on Internet, since then. One may consult weekly, monthly and annual burning maps, of either whole Brazil or its regions and states (Fig. 1-2). It is the country biggest data bank on burnings available on Internet, as well as the most accessed site. This homepage (http://www.nma.embrapa.br/projects/qmd_us/index.html) gets around 150,000 hits per year, due to its reliability and availability.
Fig.1 & 2. Orbital monitoring of burned areas, August & October 1998.
All the system routines are frequently updated. The detection and mapping homogeneity allowed NMA researchers to study the space and time patterns of the burnings.
The NMA team also does an hydrologic monitoring, based on satellite data, which gives information on water availability on 25 soil types at 11 states of Brazil, as an extra indicator of fire risk and generates weekly around 12,000 pages on the Internet (http://www.agrocast.com.br).
The follow up of over 450 farmers for the last 10 years, on amazon region, has also helped to understand the causes of interannual fluctuations of burnings, not related to climate (http://www.nma.embrapa.br/projects/machadinho) and the relationship between deforestation and burnings. Finally, the allocation and use of a mobile antenna for NOAA/AVHRR data reception, by the NMA team was decisive on supporting the in situ wildfires combat at Roraima state in early 1998.
Deforestation vs. Burnings: A Misunderstanding
Since the international “campaign” to preserve the Brazilian Amazon “caught fire”, in 1988-89, almost all the international press has mixed up two different kinds of environmental concerns, the deforestation and the burnings. This happened, first, because both problems started to be monitored through satellite data almost at the same time. Second, because, during some time, scientists thought they could estimate the deforested area from the burned data. Third, because the smoke of the burnings were interesting to drive the attention away from the air pollution records of some developed countries. And fourth, because most of the foreign (and many Southern Brazilian) journalists didn’t know the Amazon forests and its ecological and land-use peculiarities.
Now, the scientists have reviewed their methods. Some Brazilian journalists and authorities learned to point the difference. Even international organizations – like the World Bank and the World Resources Institute – seem to recognize the mistake. But the average international media maintain the misunderstanding.
Deforestation is defined as the conversion of forest for timber harvesting and to other land uses, e.g. agriculture, cattle raising, establishment of settlements, or mining. It causes local climate changes and biodiversity reduction and contributes to the greenhouse effect. The burnings are the main tools of farmers to dispose residuals of trees, to control weeds and pests, to renew pastures and to harvest some crops. It causes local and regional pollution; reduces visibility on highways and airports; reduces the soil biological fertility and increases the risk of erosion. It also contributes to the greenhouse house effect, but only when the tree trunks are burned, during the first years after deforestation. Repeated burnings do not contribute to a net release of carbon to the atmosphere.
The measurements of the two environmental problems are distinct. Almost every burned area, in Brazilian Amazon, was first deforested. Most part of the burned areas will be hit by the fire every year, again and again. But there is a lot of deforested areas that do not burn. This means one cannot measure the deforestation by the burnings, because there would be areas not considered at all, while other areas would be counted several times.
Monitoring Forest Fires in Roraima State in 1998
Due to an exceptional dry period, related to the El Niño phenomenon, the Roraima State, located on the farthest northern part of Brazil, on the Northern Hemisphere, was severely hit by extended burnings and a series of wildfires. The fires took place on its savannahs, grassland and deciduous forests in early 1998. Until late March the fire combat actions were based on NOAA images, sent from United States and retransmitted by INPE for the 7th Forest Army Command, at Roraima, since the fixed antennas for NOAA data reception in Brazil do not receive data from the Northern Hemisphere. The timelag between image acquisition and its reception by the military operation command at the fires fronts was more than one day. Therefore, its utilization was very limited, jeopardized by the delay.
By demand of the Terrestrian Operations Command (COTER), the NMA has moved its NOAA imagery reception antenna to Roraima. This allowed imagery acquisition several times a day. The time gap from the data reception and the delivery of images, maps and analysis to the operation command turned to be less than one hour. All the fire combat logistic was optimized, with meaningful practical results. Even after the first rainfalls, this monitoring allowed the detection of isolated fire spots and their effective extinction. All obtained data were made available on Internet (http://www.nma.embrapa.br/projetos/queimadas).
Final Comments
In Brazil, the fire detection and mapping system is available, on a regular basis, for ten years. This information, through the Internet, is reaching a large audience, that includes NGOs, media, research institutions, governmental organisms and policy makers.
In terms of active fire detection, despite the physical limitations of the NOAA-AVHRR data, ten years of monitoring allowed researchers to validate patterns for the spatial and temporal dynamics of the fires, in different regions in Brazil. Several research initiatives, fire management and environmental policies could be implemented. The reliability and availability of the current products on fire detection and mapping increased the national awareness of the media and public opinion. Lately, a special effort has been done – from research to governmental and non-governmental levels – in the search for agricultural technologies that can replace the use of fire in some Brazilian farming systems (http://www.nma.embrapa.br/projetos/qmd/tab_qmd.html).
The forest fires in Roraima showed how relevant it was to have a mobile antenna for NOAA-AVHRR imagery reception. Communication networks are not enough to deliver images, maps and analysis from a remote center of acquisition of data, specially when there is an emergency on a remote and isolated area, as are almost all national parks and environmentally important sites in Brazil. On those regions, with appropriate support and trained technicians, it is possible to aquire and process the images several times a day. As it happened at Roraima, the time gap from the data reception and the delivery of images, maps and analysis for the operation command responsible for the fire combat can be less than one hour. All the fire combat logistic can be optimized, with meaningful practical results. Even after the first rainfalls, this monitoring allowed the detection of isolated fire spots and their effective extinction.
With the regular monitoring and mapping, at the Amazon region, it was easier to compare the active fire maps and the deforestation maps, produced with Landsat images, also in a regular basis. For many years, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has been promoting the interpretation of images from the Landsat satellite to monitor the evolution of the extent and rate of gross deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. This effort has generated results for the 1974 to 97 period (http://www.inpe.br/Informacoes_Eventos/amz/amz.html). This comparison showed that most part of the burnings occurred either on cerrado areas, or on occupied areas in the Amazon Southern and Eastern border, specially along the highways, where there are settlers and farmers. About 75% of the deforested areas are located within 50km of the highways and roads. Also, 87% of the newly deforested areas (cut down on the 90s) are within 25km of the old deforested areas (cut down until 1978). This means there are no new agricultural frontiers and there have been no big expansions, but, rather, a vegetative growing of the human presence in the region.
The public and policy makers want a fire product that allows, not only active fires detection and mapping, but also a reasonably accurate estimation of area burned. The NMA is starting a research proposal for the future use of the WFI camera, on board of the CBERS-1 (China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite) (http://www.inpe.br/programas/cbers/english/index.html). The WFI has a ground swath of 890 km which provides a synoptic view with spatial resolution of 260m. The Earth surface is completely covered in about five days in two spectral bands: 0.66 µm (green) and 0.83 µm (near-infrared). This use of the WFI will provide, if a development of a burned area algorithms is achieved, the way to get an area burned fire product on the same information network.
There is also a high correlation between burnings and rainfall. Every time it rains out of season, burnings are delayed or reduced. One can almost tell the weather in different parts of Brazil, just looking at the burnings blanks on daily maps. That also means some burnings reductions self attributed by governmental institutions to its “fiscalization” are clearly linked to the occurrence of unexpected rainfalls. The rainfall explains, yet, some decreases on the total fire points detected by the monitoring system, during the last ten years. It is worth to remark that, even if the burnings number changes, the spatial pattern usually remains the same, showing how closely is the fire related with structural and permanent factors and how distant it is from accidents.
E.E. de Miranda
Director, Environmental Monitoring Center – NMA
Caixa Postal: 491
CEP 13001-970
Campinas, Sao Paulo
BRAZIL
Fax: ++55-19-254-1100
Tel: ++55-19-252-5977
E-mail: mir@nma.embrapa.br
Internet: http://www.nma.embrapa.br
and
L.John
Journalist, specialized on environmental issues and
works for the News Wire Service Agência Estado Ltda
e-mail: lj@agest.ecof.org.br
Brazil: Prevention and Control of Forest Fires in the Nature Conservation Area Rio Doce in Minas Gerais (IFFN No. 23)
brPrevention and Control ofForest Fires in the Nature Conservation Area Rio Doce in Minas Gerais, Brazil
(IFFN No. 23 – December 2000, p. 44-47)
In Brazil fire used to be and continues being a traditional tool in agriculture and forestry. It is used in the development of new areas (slash and burn agriculture) or to clean meadows off organic residues, weeds and pests. If these fires run out of control they become forest fires, sometimes with catastrophic dimensions. The Provincial Park Rio Doce (PP Rio Doce) which was established in 1944 in the east of the Minas Gerais state, is an example of how a Protected Area can successfully be protected against fire damages.
The Protected Area, managed by the state-level Forest Institute IEF, is one of three target protected areas of the bilateral technical co-operation project “Doces Matas”, in place since 1996, a cooperation between three brazilian institutions and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GTZ). These institutions are the federal environmental agency IBAMA, IEF and the NGO Fundação Biodiversitas. The project goal is the protection and sustainable development of the three Protected Areas, including their buffer zones. Special emphasis is given to institutional co-operation and the participation of local people.
The area of the PP Rio Doce is part of the Atlantic Rainforest biome, both from the viewpoint of vegetation and site conditions. The Atlantic Rainforest is among the forest ecosystems with the highest biodiversity, worldwide, and, unfortunately, also one of the most threatened. In a landscape totally altered by humans through Eucalyptus Plantations, extensive pasture areas, smallholder agriculture, as well as urban development and steel industry, the Protected Area represents an island of natural vegetation. Covering an area of 35,973 ha, primary and secondary semi-evergreen forests are growing in a mosaic pattern under a subtropical, moderate humid climate (mean annual temperature 21°C, mean annual precipitation 1160 mm). The secondary forests originate from large forest fires which occurred in the 1960s. The Park shelters the largest continuous area of this vegetation type in Minas Gerais and constitutes the core area of the “Atlantic Rainforest” Biosphere Reserve in this state. Along with the rich flora and fauna, the Park also protects a part of the third biggest lake area in Brazil.
The forest fire history in the central part of Rio Doce started in the early 1940s. It began with large scale forest clearing, especially for charcoal production. At that time fire was still considered as an appropriate tool to shape landscapes. In the 1960s this attitude along with reforestation came under increasing criticism, underscored by quantitative calculations of damages from the uncontrolled use of fire. The fire catastrophe of 1967, when 9000 ha of natural forest inside the PP Rio Doce were destroyed, with additional damages in the buffer zone, represented a sad example of the destroying forces of fire and a turning point. Eleven fire fighter lost their lives. The material losses from theses fires along with the environmental damages to the forest industry, farmers and local people, resulted in a discussion which led to the search for alternatives to the use of fire, and to the development of better fire prevention and suppression methods. Projects and initiatives were implemented focussing on environmental education, law enforcement and regulation of the use of fire in agriculture and forestry. Because of an initial lack of adequate co-ordination, the Protected Area management took over the role to address and integrate the different stakeholders, which led to remarkable success.
Integrated Programme for Prevention, Control and Suppression of Forest Fires
Given the fact that the PP Rio Doce cannot be dealt with in an isolated form from its surroundings, and co-operation with neighbouring communities and stakeholders is essential for effective nature protection, the park management has been working, since the 1990s, on commonly agreed solutions to the forest fire problem. The result is the “Integrated Programme for the Prevention, Control and Suppression of Forest Fires”, established in 1994. The programme is supported by distinct stakeholders such as private companies, local municipalities, military police, and the road construction department. The main goal is the protection of PP Rio Doce and its buffer zone from uncontrolled fires, including 30,900 ha of Eucalyptus spp. Plantations of the forest company Acesita Energética (a subsidiary of the Acesita Aços steel company), as well as 21,000 ha of agricultural lands. Altogether the programme covers an area of 86,973 ha.
While some stakeholders are committed to the programme because of their immediate interests, like in the case of Acesita Energética, others co-operate because they want to support the Protected Area, like the metal working company Usiminas. This company does not own property in the range of the programme but nevertheless contributes to the running costs. The farmers of the buffer zone do not participate officially in the protection programme, but do collaborate indirectly through the maintenance of fences and access roads, as well as the release of water tanks in the case of a fire, as well as other activities.
The Rio Doce Park Management is responsible for the co-ordination of the programme activities. Beside this, each member of the programme has assumed specific responsibilities for assigned activities, e.g. the monitoring of a given area and the maintenance of facilities. The programme has no rigid structure. Yearly revisions by the stakeholders lead to its adjustment to new circumstances, if necessary.
Tab.1. Fire causes in PP Rio Doce and its buffer zone
Fire Causes |
Number of fires/year |
Total |
% |
|||||
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
|||
Arson |
17 |
6 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
41 |
24.4 |
Agriculture |
13 |
8 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
34 |
20.2 |
Fishery* |
11 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
– |
4 |
22 |
13.1 |
Forestry |
9 |
5 |
– |
– |
– |
3 |
17 |
10.1 |
Pasture |
6 |
1 |
3 |
– |
– |
2 |
12 |
7.1 |
Tourism |
3 |
1 |
2 |
– |
– |
1 |
7 |
4.2 |
Fire work |
2 |
– |
3 |
1 |
– |
– |
6 |
3.6 |
Garbage burning |
– |
1 |
2 |
– |
– |
– |
3 |
1.8 |
Hunting |
2 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
2 |
1.2 |
Unknown |
15 |
3 |
2 |
– |
– |
4 |
24 |
14.3 |
Total |
78 |
27 |
30 |
5 |
2 |
26 |
168 |
100 |
In the protected area fishing is generally prohibited except for one lake
Source: database PP Rio Doce
The table shows, that besides arson, fires used in agriculture, forestry and traditional fishing are the main causes.
On the basis of this analysis the means and strategies for effective fire control and suppression were determined. Watch towers, stations, equipment for fire fighting and personal safety were purchased and established. In addition, a road network (for patrolling and as safety zones in case of a fire) was developed or improved, fire breaks were built and personnel was trained for fire towers and fire fighting crews. Since the establishment of the programme, 250 members of the participating organisations have been trained in fire prevention, fire suppression and first aid. Finally a detailed plan was developed to bring existing information together and for the detection of fire locations.
In addition to fire control and suppression, prevention activities were undertaken from the beginning of the programme. The programme succeeded in reducing the number of fires by a series of activities such as awareness raising of local communities, environmental education through meetings, presentations and flyers.
The establishment costs of the programme run to US$ 229,000 to date. The public member institutions (IEF, military police, road construction department and municipalities) have covered 97% of these costs. Of the yearly operating costs of US$ 157,000, the government pays approximately two thirds, while the private enterprises, Acesita Energética und Usiminas, pay the rest. Personnel costs represent the biggest share, followed by maintenance costs (fire breaks, streets and roads) and radio operation.
Results
Table 2 clearly shows the noticeable success of the integrated fire protection programme. Since 1993, when the programme started, the area burned inside the PP Rio Doce could be substantially reduced. This means that the measures of fire protection and suppression, through fire towers, improved communication and fire detection systems, road network, fire breaks, fuel reduction, as well as fire crews and equipment, were effective and the results justify the efforts undertaken.
Tab. 2: Development of number and extent of fires
Year |
PP Rio Doce |
Buffer Zone |
||||
Number of fires |
Total area burned (ha) |
Average size of area burned (ha) |
Number of fires |
Total area burned (ha) |
Average size of area burned (ha) |
|
1993 |
5 |
980 |
196 |
73 |
3,700 |
50.7 |
1994 |
0 |
0 |
– |
27 |
1,100 |
40.7 |
1995 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
29 |
500 |
17.2 |
1996 |
0 |
0 |
– |
5 |
150 |
30.0 |
1997 |
0 |
0 |
– |
2 |
5 |
2.5 |
1998 |
0 |
0 |
– |
26 |
403 |
15.5 |
1999* |
3 |
3 |
1 |
45 |
1,000 |
22.2 |
* Preliminary data
Source: data base PP Rio Doce
In the buffer zone the results were not as positive as in the PP Rio Doce. Neither the number of fires nor the average area burned could be substantially brought down to acceptable levels. This points to inefficiency, lack of acceptance, unsuitability or simply to the insufficient dimension of the measures undertaken in fire prevention. Consequently, greater efforts from all stakeholders in the areas of law enforcement, awareness raising in forest industry, farmers, fishers, tourists and the local people in general have to be undertaken. The especially high fire occurrence in 1999 can be partly explained by the extreme drought and by the land use change under way from Eucalyptus plantations to agriculture.
With regard to the programme costs, it can be stated that the protection programme is cheaper than the rehabilitation measures of the past. The prevention and control activities in 1993 ran up to approx. US$ 600,000. If the costs of rehabilitation or reforestation of burned areas were to be added the costs would quickly reach millions. Compared to these costs the costs of the establishment and implementation of the protection programme (see above) are minor.
According to the Park management assessment, one of the most important results is that forest fires in and around PP Rio Doce are better understood. This was achieved through the programmes research activities, which lead to a more systematic and planned organization of prevention, control, and suppression activities, instead of the improvised and reactive countermeasures of the past. The experience gained is perceived as so promising that fire protection programmes, following the example of PP Rio Doce, are currently planned in other Protected Areas throughout Minas Gerais.
Contact address:
Elmo Nunes and Stefanie Kraas
Projeto “Doces Matas”
Rua Paracatu, 304 – 11º andar/ sala 1102
30180-090 Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais
BRAZIL
Tel: +55-31-330 7010
Fax: +55-31-330 7009
E-mail: gtzief@gold.com.br
|
| IFFNNo. 23 | Specials | Country Notes |
Brazil: Burning Activity in the Amazon Decreases (IFFN No. 4 – 1990)
br
Burning Activity in the Amazon Decreases
(IFFN No. 4 – 1990, p. 3-4)
A change in the governmental policy regarding land occupation in the Amazon region followed by the enforcement of existing legislation have considerable decreased burning acitvity in the amazon forest.
Last year, the Brazilian government decided that no further fiscal incentives or official loans would be granted for agriculture or pasture projects in the Amazon region. This policy change was a fundamental step for decreasing the rate of forest devastation and, consequently, forest and slash burning.
The other important action toward the reduction of slash burning in that region was law enforcement. In August 1988 the Brazilian government enacted a law establishing that no slash or other controlled burning in the country would be allowed unless a permit from an official agency was issued. Based on that law, the IBAMA (Brazilian Agency for Forestry and Environment Affairs), in 1989, launched a large-scale operation in the region, named PEAL (Emergency Program for the Amazon), in order to enforce the legislation. Several crews using helicopters, boats and cars were sent to the Amazon region in order to check the burning activities. If the landowners who were caught burning did not have a permit, they were fined and/or prosecuted.
These two actions, change in the land occupation policy and law enforcement were decisive for reducing the use of fire in the amazon forest in the last two years.
It is hoped that the law enforcement be extended to the whole country, in order to also reduce the number of wildfires in other vegetation types, like the “cerrado”, the broadleaf forests of the coastal mountains and the forestry plantations. Since over one third of the wildfires in Brazil are caused by misuse of fire in debris burning activities, enforcement of the 1988 enacted legislation will certainly help to prevent fire and reduce the damage they have caused to different ecosystems.
Ronaldo Viana Soares
Forest Fire Prvention and Suppression
National Commission
Federal University of Paraná
Curso de Engenharia Florestal
Rua Bom Jesus, 650
BR-80.030 Curitiba-Paraná
Brazil: Operational Satellite Monitoring of Fires in Brazil (IFFN No. 9 – July 1993)
br
Operational Satellite Monitoring ofFires in Brazil
(IFFN No. 9 – July 1993, p. 8-11)
Fire detection and control are complex tasks in Brazil. The country has old and popular established traditions of burning the vegetation whenever possible, weak environmental concerns, and little or nor capability of fire detection in most of its territory (8 million km2). Among its main uses, fire is normally employed to renew pastures all over the country, to clear felled trees and shrubs in areas of new deforestation, and in sugar cane plantations prior to manual harvesting. A pronounced dry season of about four months in the southern and central regions during the austral winter create very favorable conditions for the wide spread use and propagation of fires. Natural fires (e.g. lightning fires) represent a negligible fraction of fire events.
Since 1987 an operational system of fire detection based on orbital remote sensing has been used in Brazil. This report summarizes the technique used and the products available, pointing to its main advantages, limitations and future needs. Readers interested in more details should be directed to the references listed at the end of the text.
The satellites used for fire detection and monitoring are the NOAA-series meteorological satellites of polar orbit (~98° , 840 km altitude). There are always two of these satellites in operation, resulting in at least four overpasses per day for any tropical regions of the globe. At present, four NOAA satellites can be used (NOAA 9-12) and an additional one (NOAA-13) is expected to be in use by July 1993. The early afternoon images (at 2 p.m. local solar time) are particularly used for fire monitoring because most fires lit around noon are still active during the satellite pass. Each image covers a ground strip of about 2,500 km oriented in the SSE-NNW direction for day-time ascending passes, or NNE-SSW in night-time descending passes. The length of the strip is about 4,000 km, centered in the latitude of the receiving station. Such wide-area coverage in a short time interval (14 minutes) available a few times per day is the main advantage of these satellites in fire detection. No cost or restrictions exist to receive these AVHRR images/HRPT mode. Accredited commercial complete receiving stations have been sold for less than US$100,000; ones of 1/10 of this price are currently offered!
The detection of fires relies on the picture elements (pixels) of the image above a certain threshold in the thermal channel 3 (3.9 m m) of the 4-channel AVHRR sensor aboard the NOAA satellites. This channel, with nominal saturation at 43° C, was designed for ocean and temperature measurements. Nevertheless, it is the most sensitive one to targets with temperatures of vegetation fires. Its signal, therefore, can be used only to detect fires but not to estimate their temperature or size. Hot targets like cities of dense construction or exposed soils under a hot sun are seen by channel 3 with much lower temperatures than active fires and are not erroneously mistaken with them. Any fire front with ca. 50 m or more will be detected by channel 3, and will be indicated by at least one pixel. Since the size of a pixel is at least 1.1 x 1.1 km, area estimates of fire fronts for field operations planning is impossible. The precision of fire detection is one pixel, which at nadir is ± 500 m; at the edges of the image, because of pixel geometric distortion, it may reach ± 3,000 m. A major constraint is caused by sun glint in water bodies and in very reflective hot exposed soils in particular cases of sun-target-satellite geometry. In Brazil this problem was greatly reduced by using always the most west pass of the satellites for the region of interest. When this pass occurs the sun is at a lower angle for that region and the soil temperature has decreased in relation to the previous pass which was ca.25 degrees eastward, highly reducing the chances of sun glint.
Two types of products are made and operationally distributed in Brazil by the National Space Institute (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais – INPE), which receives the NOAA images and processes them on real time. The first one is directed to those with operational needs of fire detection and fighting, like organizations in charge of protected areas or commercial forests, and environmental agencies. A special image processing software coupled with a geographical information system identifies all “fire pixels” in the images received, determines their geographical coordinates, selects those in each individual area of interest, and prepares and sends a telex message to specific users. Within about 30 minutes of the satellite pass individual users have at their telex machines a list of geographical coordinates of the fires detected in their own regions. Telex transmissions are preferred to avoid noise problems found in regular fax/phone lines. Until 1992 only the afternoon satellite passes were used on a regular basis, with night and early morning passes processed only on special request; in 1993 an early morning image should also be included in the monitoring.
This fire monitoring system is operational on a daily basis in Brazil for six months, from 1 June until 30 November. The size of the areas monitored varies according to the users needs, ranging from small ones with just a few km2 to those of large states of many thousands of km2. Users usually relay the locations of the fires received by telex to fire brigades in the field by radio. Fire fighting brigades which checked hundreds of the fires detected by this satellite system reported that ca.98% of them were correctly identified; the remaining 2% were never reached because of logistical problems. In relation to other sources of information on fires, like calls from the public, park guards, aircraft pilots, the satellite detection accounted for ca.96% of all fires detected. For statistical and control purposes, the system also generates a monthly statement for each area monitored, indicating the total number of fires detected each day.
A second operational product of the system gives an estimate of fire distribution and density for the country with cumulative weekly and monthly data obtained from the daily image processing. Fire pixels are counted in Grid cells of 0.5° of latitude by 0.5° of longitude and sent every week to users by E-mail. Three matrixes of data are produced and sent: the first contains the number of fire pixels detected in each grid cell during the week; the second contains the number of times each cell was imaged by the satellite; and the third has the average number of fire pixels in each grid cell. The E-mail file containing the three matrix has ca.70 Kbytes. Users of these weekly products include newspapers that publish maps of fire density in the country or in specific states, and different scientific groups interested in studies on vegetation, atmospheric chemistry and climate modelling.
Fig.1. Fire activities in Brazil during July 1992 as recorded by NOAA satellite data.
Source: National Institute for Space Research INPE, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
(will be added later)
Fig.2. Fire activities in Brazil during August 1992 as recorded by NOAA satellite data.
Source: National Institute for Space Research INPE, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
(will be added later)
The two figures show an example of maps made from such matrixes for the months of July and August 1992. The month of August, which includes the peak of the fire activity, had over 100,000 fires, while July, still at the beginning of the fire season, had only 15,000 fires detected by satellite. The highest density of fires is found along the current south limit of the Amazon forest. This is a region subject to intense deforestation through fire. The vegetation is cut at the end of the wet season or start of the dry season, and then left to dry for one or two months. Fire is used to burn the dead organic matter and will be used in the same place for many years until all organic matter from the original forest is consumed.
Although restricted by the Brazilian government, deforestation and the associated burnings are extremely difficult to control in such extensive and inhospitable regions. The control has been made in recent years largely based in the satellite detection technique described above: helicopters stationed in the region have been directed to the geographical coordinates of the fire pixels in AVHRR’s channel 3 images. This enabled the Environmental Institute of Brazil to enforce existing legislation on fires and deforestation with millions of dollars in fines imposed on law offenders. In fact, AVHRR images in 1987 were responsible for showing the scientific community and the public in general that biomass burning in Amazonia was taking place at unprecedented rates and out of control.
Without discussing extensive existing field and validation work or theoretical considerations, the following pros and cons of the AVHRR detection of fires are listed:
Main advantages
- methodology of detection regular and uniform
- use of satellite data not restricted, costs are less than other images
- four images daily anywhere in the globe, at least
- coverage ranging from few to millions of km2
- precise location of fires for fire control purposes
- fast acquisition and distribution of information on fire locations
- simple detection principle, field proven
- products of simple output
- answers individual needs of different users
- fast, simple and diversified delivery of products
- low product cost for users
Main limitations
- no detection of fires not active during the satellite time overpass
- no detection of fire fronts smaller than ca.50 m
- obscuring clouds (but not smoke) in the fire-satellite line-of-sight
- no detection of fires not reaching the canopy
- solar reflection in a few cases
- very coarse estimate of area in fire
- misses advance of fires between consecutive images
References
Pereira, M.C. and A.W. Setzer 1991. Spectral characteristics of deforestation fires in NOAA/ AVHRR images. Int. J. Remote Sensing 14 (3): 583-597.
Setzer, A.W. and M.C. Pereira 1991a. Amazonia biomass burning in 1987 and an estimate of their tropospheric emissions Ambio 20: 19-22.
Setzer, A.W. and M.C. Pereira 1991b. Operational detection of fires in Brazil with NOAA-AVHRR. 24th ERIM Int.Symp.Remote Sensing of Environm. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Setzer, A.W. et al. 1992. The use of NOAA satellites in the detection of fires in Brazil. Climanalise (INPE/Brazil) 7(8), 41-53. (in Portuguese)
From: Alberto Setzer
Address:
INPE/DSM
Caixa Postal 515
BR – 12201 San José dos Campos
Phone: (++55) 123-418977 ext 347
Fax: (++55) 123-218743
at present
c/o CEC-JRC-ISRA – T.P.440
I-21020 Ispra
Phone: (++39) 332-785018
Fax: (++39) 332-789073
Brazil: Fires Heat up After a Four-Years Decrease (IFFN No. 14 – January 1996)
br
Fires Heat up After a Four-Years Decrease
(IFFN No. 14 – January 1996, p. 13-15)
After four years of decreases on the burnings index, Brazil had to deal again with high levels of fire activities during the 1995 dry season. According to the information obtained from the NOAA AVHRR satellite sensor the average total number of fires detected between 1991 and 1994 had dropped by 23% each year. During the five dry months of 1995 the total number of detected fires reached 367,000. That means a 70% increase, if compared with 1994’s numbers.
The distribution of the main fire concentrations also changed. During the last four years the fires had followed almost the same pattern throughout the dry season, in a high correlation with the dislocation of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the ocurrence of rainfall. The regions where the rainfall stops first, burning activities also start first. Whenever out of season rainfalls occur, there are no burnings. From 1991 to 1994, June and July were the months of medium fire concentrations in Southern Brazil, predominating in Paraná, Santa Catarina and Sao Paulo. From August on, the burnings rapidly progressed into Central Brazil, spreading smoke over Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Tocantins and West Bahia. Then the major fire concentrations moved North, towards the Amazon region (Pará, Amazonia, Acre, Rondônia), and to the East (Maranhao, Piauí), ending October with the first burnings in Northeastern Brazil, at the semi‑desert region called The Drought Polygon (Bahía, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Ceará).
This year, June and July started with the highest concentrations of fire points ever registered, and many of them were localized in the Amazon Region. These months’ indexes almost doubled, if compared with the average of previous records. In August, there was a 34% increase above the average of previous years. But in September and October the fire numbers kept the same level of previous years.
The main reason for this change of patterns and standards was economic. Since 1991, less investment money was available for farmers, cattle ranchers and agriculturists. They have reduced, therefore, their planted areas and did not open new farming lands. In 1995, the situation changed, with the success of the Plano Reál. Its economic measures drastically reduced inflation and stabilized the Brazilian economy. Farmers, cattle ranchers and agriculturists reinvested in plantations and pasture renovations. The abandoned areas were again prepared and fire was again used as the cheapest and easiest tool to control weeds and accelerate grass sprouting. New areas were also opened, on a smaller scale.
The climate also favoured the fires, especially in the Amazon Basin. This year, the dry season started first and lasted longer in the Amazon states. Consequently, agriculturists had more time to prepare their lands and set fire. At Rondônia State, for example, the satellites detected concentrations of fire from early June until late November! Usually, the burnings detected in that state last only from August to September/early October.
It is important to bear in mind that Brazilian fires are very different from those in the natural vegetation of the Mediterranean basin, from wildfires in California’s chaparral, and forest and tundra fires in Alaska. The untouched rainforests ‑ either at the Amazon Basin and at the Brazilian Atlantic Coast ‑ do not burn by accident, nor even if someone sets fire to them. They are too humid to burn by themselves. They only catch fire after a severe and long drought and if disturbed or cut down. Therefore, almost all fires detected on forested areas are associated with either deforestation or post-deforestation burning. When converting forest into other land-use systems, trees are first cut down. After several months of drying, trunks and branches are burned. It takes an average of eight years until all the wood is burned. So, fire is used as a tool to clean up the land, and the hotspots are not representing wildfires. Fire is also used to eliminate weeds, plagues and leftovers of plantations, to accelerate the pastures sprouting and even to make harvesting easier, as well as a fast fertilization process. And those are the causing that high number of fires detected each winter in Brazil. That’s why burnings cannot necessarily be used as a deforestation indicator: if it is true that the fire is commonly set on deforestated areas, it is also true that deforested areas are not always burned and it is especially true that fires are also set on a lot of other areas, not necessarily deforested, like Cerrados, grasslands, and traditional agricultural lands. More reliable deforestation indicators were developed in studies by the National Space Research Institute (INPE), with Landsat TM and Spot data (called PRODES). At the end of December 1995, INPE will release the new deforestation numbers, based on 1992 and 1994 satellite images. The 1995 numbers shall be available by June 1996.
Spaceborne Fire Monitoring
The first NOAA images used to detect fire points were treated at INPE, back in 1987. The fires detected by the satellite sensor were georeferenced by a computer software (determination of geographical coordinates). Since then, lists with fire coordinates were sent daily to the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA), to be checked/verified in the field. The federal agency was never able to truly use the monitoring data, due to alleged lack of financial support. But one of the state environmental agencies, the SMA of Sao Paulo, actually investigated the main fires pointed by INPE, and established a programme, called Mata Fogo, to control burnings.
In 1991, the Environmental Monitoring Center (NMA) and the non‑governmental organization Ecoforça joined INPE, in an effort to make the system more operational. They developed a software to translate the NOAA data, processed by INPE, into maps. The maps use the standard 1:250,000 grid over the Brazilian territory, in order to better classify and localize the fire concentrations. There are also numerical maps, which identify the number of fire points in each square. Those maps have been released to the press, through the Agencia Estado News Wire Service, together with an analysis of what kind of vegetation is probably burning, where are the worst fire concentrations, fire spots that should be investigated by authorities, etc. Those features and maps have been published on a weekly basis, throughout the dry season. The maps are available at Internet, on Ecoforce’s site.
At the end of 1994, there were some interruptions, due to the NOAA‑11 failure. In 1995, the NOAA‑14 was picked as the substitute, because it passes over Brazil twice in the afternoon, when the major part of the fires are still going on. Unfortunately, the NOAA‑14 is almost 2 hours earlier than the NOAA‑11. This led to a solar reflexion problem: in mid-August the open cerrados (savanna-like vegetation) were so bright that they saturated the pixels. INPE was forced to adopt the NOAA‑12 images, with a big loss of data. NMA and Ecoforce decided to publicize two different maps for 1995 fires: one from June to 15 August, and the other from 15 August to October. The first based on NOAA‑14 and the second on NOAA‑12. Up to now, they are not comparable. The NOAA‑12 passes over Brazil at night, when only illegal, accidental and roadside fires are still lighted or continuing. There are 4 to 5 times less fires at night, as can be seen by NOAA‑12 and NOAA‑14.
The total of fire points from 15 August until October was then estimated (and not measured). These preliminary estimates were based on the tendency of the burning and on the differences observed between those two satellites. Other evaluations are on their way. INPE has recorded all NOAA‑14 images not used on the operational monitoring system and is trying to solve the problem with new software. Ecoforce got some images of other satellites (DMSP and GOES) and will compare them with NOAA data. The burnings are a complex and dynamic problem, but Brazil will find better technology to fully re‑establish its monitoring system.
From: Liana John
Agencia Estado News Wire Service
and
Evaristo E. de Miranda
Brazilian Environmental Monitoring Center (NMA)
ECOFORÇA
Address:
Rua José Inocêncio de Campos, 148
CEP 13024-230-Cambui
BR – Campinas, Sao Paulo
Brazil / Guayanas: Fire Activity in the Guyana Shield, the Orinoco and Amazon Basins During March 1998 (IFFN No. 19 – September 1998)
brFire Activity in the Guyana Shield,
the Orinoco and Amazon Basins During March 1998
(IFFN No. 19 – September 1998,p. 35-39)
Introduction
The analysis reported here was done in the framework of two projects of the Global Vegetation Monitoring Unit (GVM, ex Monitoring of Tropical Vegetation [MTV] Unit) of the Space Applications Institute (SAI) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC):
- the FIRE project (Fire in Global Resources and Environmental Monitoring) is dedicated to a permanent monitoring of vegetation fires at regional level, but all over the globe, and
- the TREES project (Tropical Ecosystem Environment observation by Satellite) is dedicated to the development of an operational tropical forest monitoring system.
Both projects have to provide the services of the Commission with up-to-date, independent and policy-relevant information on three domains of strategic importance for the European Union:
- the Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto Protocol on source reduction and sink enhancement of green-house gases),
- the implementation of projects which take into account sustainable development, and
- the protection of forests of global importance.
In this context, a team of the GVM Unit was sent to Paramaribo (Suriname) in South America, from 8 to 21 March 1998, in order:
- to map on real time the vegetation fires over Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana and Northern Brazil,
- to assess the type of vegetation affected by the fires,
- to format the information collected in order to support the evaluation of the role of these fires in the deforestation dynamics and of their impacts on the emission of green-house gases, and
- to provide the scientific team of the LBA Project CLAIRE in Mainz (Germany) with in-situ real time information on the fire distribution.
The focus of the CLAIRE (Cooperative LBA Airborne Regional experiment; LBA = Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment) project is to provide the basis of knowledge required to determine the net exchanges of important gases and aerosols between the atmosphere and the Amazon region, and to understand the processes regulating these exchanges.
Data collection and processing in South America during the campaign of March 1998
From 9 to 20 March 1998, a total of 36 NOAA-AVHRR-HRPT images (1 km resolution) have been acquired and processed on an area of 2000 km x 2000 km covering Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, Northern Brazil and Northeastern Peru.
The acquisition of the NOAA-AVHRR-HRPT images has been done in-situ, three times a day, with a PC-based portable satellite receiver and a horn antenna. The pre-processing, radiometric calibration and geometric correction were carried out using the PANAIS software package developed by GVM (Janodet et al. 1996). The processing for vegetation fire location and GIS analysis were done using ERDAS IMAGINE 8.3 and ArcView packages, on Unix workstation.
Results were made available by e-mail within 24 hours of the satellite overpass, to the CLAIRE/LBA scientific team in Mainz (Germany) and to the services of the Commission, i.e. the DG JRC in Brussels (Belgium) and the direction of the SAI in Ispra (Italy).
General considerations on fire distribution in the region during March 1998
The intense cloud coverage over the region of interest during most of the observation period did not always allow the detection of all individual fires. Therefore, regional sets or groups of fires have been defined and located. Further investigation on individual fires has been conducted locally on specific areas of interest such as conservation areas and “indigenous areas”.
The regional groups of fires have been divided into the following categories:
- a fire set is a group of individual fire events observed in a given area of a limited extent and clearly separated from the surrounding, located by the lat/long coordinates of its centre.
- a fire front is a group of individual fire events distributed within an elongated cluster, positioned by the lat-long coordinates of its extremities.
- a fire zone is a group of individual fire events distributed over large area, still clearly separated from the surrounding, and defined by the lat/long coordinates of its corners.
The various groups of fires have been mapped and analyzed in combination with relevant information such as administrative boundaries, river networks, vegetation cover types (D’Souza et al. 1995) and protected areas.
The satellite observations done from 9 to 20 March 1998 have lead to the definition of four main regions affected by fire activity in South America North of the Equator, called Fire Regions (Fig.1).
These four Fire Regions have been characterized in terms of:
- the spatio-temporal distribution of fire and the type of vegetation affected,
- the probable environmental impacts, relevant for the three European Union’s key issues.
These environmental impacts include:
- the emission of greenhouse gases and aerosols leading to the degradation of air quality with possible health problems, and to the increase of CO2 emissions with consequences on climate change,
- specific disturbances of the ecosystems, the vegetation cover and the soil, of their function and dynamics, leading to the degradation or even destruction of the natural resources like in the case of soil erosion.
Fire Region I: The Northeastern slopes of the Andes (Venezuela and Colombia)
The activity of the fires, which was previously limited in the Llanos, extended on the 12th and the 13th of March over the slopes of the Cordillera de Merida (Venezuela) and the northern part of the Cordillera Oriental (Colombia). These fires were distributed on a SW-NE transect some 200 km long and created smokes covering about 60,000 km2.
This fire event affected a mixture of “sub-montane forest” and “lowland dense forest”. Even if limited in space, it must be considered as having a very high environmental impact with important socio-economic consequences. The sub-montane forest ecosystem is indeed poorly adapted to fire and its disturbance exposes the soil to increased erosion on the slopes.
Fig.1. The four main fire regions in South America (North of the Equator) as derived from satellite observations between 9 and 20 March 1998.
Fig.2. Detaild map of fire patterns in the four fire regions during march 1998 (222 KB)
Fire Region II: The Llanos of the Orinoco (Venezuela and Colombia)
Spread over most of the Llanos, the fires in this second region affected more especially two sub-regions: along the Meta river (Colombia) and over the Apure and the Arauca river basins (Venezuela).
At the beginning of the observed period, fires were limited to the central part of the Llanos (Venezuela and Colombia), over most of the Apure and Arauca river basins. A progressive movement of the fire activity was then observed toward East, following the Orinoco river until the end of the reporting period, on 18 March, when the fires were mainly concentrated between Ciudad Bolivar and Ciudad Guyana. The fire activity was intense during the whole period of observation, but with a peak on 13 March.
The main vegetation type affected by the fires in this region was a mosaic of “savannah woodland and xeromorphic forest”, with patches of “lowland dense moist forest”. Here again the forest ecosystem affected by the fires is far from being adapted to the burning practices and the soil degradation and erosion can be enhanced in region such as south of the Orinoco river.
Fire Region III: The coastal zones (Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname)
The third region corresponds to the coastal zone of the Atlantic Ocean, where the fires were distributed according to three sub-regional patterns:
-
on the relief along the coast of the Caribbean Sea (Venezuela): the fires were observed mainly within the “dense moist forest” and some of them in the “agricultural mosaic”;
-
within the Orinoco delta: the fires showed a peak of activity on the 13th and 14th of March, affecting essentially the “coastal swamp forest”, and “low land dense moist forest” at the edges of the delta.
-
within the 50 km wide belt, parallel to the coast of Suriname and Guyana, liable to flooding from important rivers such as the Essequibo, Berbice or Nickerie: fire activities were particularly dense around Marlborough, Georgetown, New Amsterdam (Guyana), along the Courantyne river and Wageningen (Suriname). A peak of activity was observed from the 15 to 18 March. The vegetation types mostly affected in Guyana were the “lowland dense moist forest” and the “savannah woodland”. But in Suriname, the mixed class “coastal swamp forest and mangroves” was affected.
Due to the very high fragility of most of the coastal ecosystems affected here, one can expect very high environmental impacts of this third fire event. This includes the disturbance of the coastal geomorphologic equilibrium and increased erosion, with consequences on the terrestrial resources but also on the fishery capacities of the coastal zone.
Fire Region IV: The Roraima State (Brazil) and the Kanuku Mountains region (Guyana)
This fourth fire region covers most of the Rio Branco basin, upstream of the confluence with the Catrimani river (Brazil), and the upper basin of the Repununi and the Essequibo rivers (Guyana).
Fires were initially detected within the mosaic of “savannah woodland, xeromorphic forest” and “shrublands”. But after 11 March they clearly extended within the “lowland dense moist forest” in Guyana, with a peak of activity on 14 and 15 March. They also penetrated the “fragmented forest” and “dense moist forest” in Brazil after 12 March, with a peak of activity between 15 and 18 March.
Even when they were not in the non-forested domain, the fires were not positioned randomly. They were detected right at the edge of the forested types of vegetation, indicating clearly the purpose of this burning activity.
This fourth fire event has very strong environmental as well as social impact. Further investigations have to be conducted to assess and quantify in which way it affected, directly by burning fronts, or indirectly by dense smokes coverage, many indigenous areas as well as forest reserves and biological reserves.
Conclusions and Perspectives
From the present analysis of the fire patterns in this South American region during March 1998, and the comparison conducted with historical data from the fire season of 1992-93 (Dwyer et al. 1998; Stroppiana et al. 1998), one can make the following remarks.
The fire event was not totally exceptional and unpredictable. Reasons for burning are known and not new. But the intensity and extension of the fires in the dense moist forest domain (Brazil, Guyana) was effectively unusual. All the fires occurring in the region, and not only the ones affecting the forest, have strong environmental impacts and socio-economical consequences, especially because they affect vegetation on slopes exposed to soil erosion or very fragile coastal ecosystems.
Both of these first aspects were moreover minimized by the media, which focussed on the fires in the forested area of the Roraima State in Brazil.
The evaluation of the ecological and socio-economical consequences of the burning activity in this region requires an almost permanent flow of information on the location and timing of fires, at a scale that fits with the one of the phenomenon. This information must be first collected and then made available in a suitable format to the services of the Commission.
Earth Observation Systems provide here the only practical solution for such information collection. In this context the GVM unit of the SAI is currently developing the World-Fire-Web Network (Pinnock et al. 1998), a system for globally mapping fires in vegetation: a worldwide network of receiving stations will collect and process NOAA-AVHRR images for regional detection of fires. Daily global fire maps will be built up by automatically sharing regional maps over the Internet. This global fire information will then be available on-line and in near real-time. After a 12 months test period of a pilot network with partial global coverage (June 1998), the network will be progressively enlarged to give full global coverage.
As far as the information flow to the services of the Commission is concerned, the Tropical Forest Information System (Wood and Janvier 1995) is a good starting point. It is designed to be a tool for organizing and archiving information related to fire, vegetation and all topographic, geographic, and non-spatial information. It brings together the relevant datasets and allows performing the assessment and analysis of the impacts of fires on the environment. Finally it provide a tool for query, browsing and visualization of the fire products and results.
A prototype version has been installed by the TREES project at DG XI/D4. It is planned to install two others entries to the system in DG VIII and DGI/B.
References
D’Souza G., J.-P.Malingreau, and H.Eva. 1995. Tropical forest cover of South and Central America as derived from analyses of NOAA-AVHRR data, 50. Publ. European Commission, EUR 16274 EN, Luxembourg.
Dwyer N., J.-M.Grégoire, and J.-P.Malingreau. 1998. A global analysis of vegetation fires: spatial and temporal dynamics. Ambio 27 (3), 175-181.
Janodet E., A.Tournier, S.Brownlee, B.Glénat, and J.-M.Grégoire. 1996. Software package developed and implemented by MTV for the pre-processing and processing of NOAA-AVHRR images acquired with a portable receiving station. JRC Technical Note No. I.96.245, 32. Publ. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy, December 1996.
Pinnock S., J.-M.Grégoire, and J.-P.Malingreau. 1998. The World-Fire-Web project. Web Site : http://www.mtv.sai.jrc.it/projects/fire/wfw/fact_sheet.html
Stoppiana D., S.Pinnock, and J.-M.Grégoire. 1998. The Global Fire Product. Int. J. Remote Sensing (submitted 1998).
Wood R., and P.Janvier. 1995. Tropical Forest Information System: past and future priorities. Proceedings of Eurocarto XIII, Workshop on Scale and Extent, 35-49. Publ. European Commission, EUR 16406 EN, Luxembourg.
From: J.-M. Grégoire, B. Glénat,
P. Janvier, E. Janodet, A. Tournier and J.M.N. Silva
Address:
Global Vegetation Monitoring Unit
Space Applications Institute
Joint Research Centre
I – 21020 Ispra, Varese
ITALY
Department of Forestry
Technical University
Lisbon
PORTUGAL
For more information on the FIRE and TREES project’s activities: http://www.mtv.sai.jrc.it/
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