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active fires since the early 1980s, although with limited

capability until the implementation of the GOES-8

Imager in 1994. With the launch of the European

Meteosat-8 Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared

Imager (SEVIRI), the Chinese FY-2C stretched Visible

and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (S-VISSR), and the

Japanese Advanced Meteorological Imager (JAMI) on

the Multifunctional Transport Satellite (MTSAT-1R),

almost global geostationary fire monitoring is possible.

Although these geostationary sensors have a reduced

spatial resolution (4-5 km in the IR) compared to polar

orbiters, they offer enhanced temporal resolution (full

disk every 15 minutes with Meteosat-9), providing valu-

able diurnal information that is complementary to polar

orbiting fire products. Over the past ten years, the use

of geostationary satellite-derived fire products has grown

appreciably with applications in hazards monitoring,

fire weather forecasting, climate change, emissions

monitoring, aerosol and trace gas transport modelling,

air quality and land-use and land-cover change detec-

tion. The user community includes government

agencies, resource and emergency managers, fire

managers, educational institutions and the general

public.

A specific goal of the GOFC-GOLD-Fire programme

is to develop and foster the implementation of a near

real-time operational global geostationary fire monitor-

ing network using current (GOES, MSG, MTSAT, FY-2C)

and future geostationary platforms (Indian INSAT-3D,

Russian GOMS Elektro L MSU-GS, Korean COMS). This

effort also supports GEOSS activities and the GEO 2006

work plan, which calls for the initiation of ‘a globally

coordinated warning system for fire and monitoring for

forest conversion, including the development of

improved information products and risk assessment

models (DI-06-13)’ and the expansion of ‘the use of

meteorological geostationary satellites for the manage-

ment of non-weather related hazards (DI-06-09).’

NPP/NPOESS Visible Infrared Imagery Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and

sensors on Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)

Sentinel satellites.

To maximize the societal benefit of these systems to support

natural resource management and decision-making, there needs to

be a continued emphasis on ensuring that the data are converted to

usable information and made available in a timely fashion. This

process is becoming easier with advances in web technology and

improved access to broadband Internet. Recent advances in infor-

mation technology make it easier to integrate remote sensing

products and GIS data within web-based GIS systems to provide

resource managers with information that is timely, accurate, and

delivered in a readily accessible format. Technologies already exist to

create interactive web maps that incorporate data from a wide range

of servers in different locations; a key obstacle to improving these

maps for active fire managers is finding suitable data that are up-to-

date, accurate, readily available and consistent across regions.

An example of web-based fire information systems is the Fire

Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS),

developed

at the University of Maryland with funding from NASA. FIRMS uses

data transmitted from the MODIS instrument on board NASA’s Terra

and Aqua satellites. These data are processed to produce images and

text files pertaining to active fire locations. These are ingested into a

geo-database and disseminated to users using web mapping services

(known as Web Fire Mapper), e-mail alert and SMS/Text messages,

and downloadable files that allow users to access the latest fire loca-

tions using GIS software, Google Earth or NASA World Wind. FIRMS

works with regional networks to customize the web mapping services;

in this way users are able to integrate fire information with local

geospatial information (such as park boundaries and roads), enabling

them to place MODIS active fires in their geographic context. FIRMS

currently provides MODIS active fire data to natural resource

managers, scientists and policy makers working in 58 countries.

Geostationary systems

The NOAA series of Geostationary Operational Environmental

Satellites (GOES) have had the necessary spectral bands to monitor

MODIS rapid response fire detections for 2005

Global distribution of MODIS active fire detections for

April 2005 from the FIRMS system

Source: The Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS)

Northern boreal forest fire

Photo: Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada

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