Multispectral Satellite Imagery Products for Fire Weather Applications

Abstract

Abstract Two multispectral satellite imagery products are presented that were developed for use within the fire management community. These products, which take the form of false color red–green–blue composites, were designed to aid fire detection and characterization, and for assessment of the environment surrounding a fire. The first, named the Fire Temperature RGB, uses spectral channels near 1.6, 2.2, and 3.9 μm for fire detection and rapid assessment of the range of fire intensity through intuitive coloration. The second, named the Day Fire RGB, uses spectral channels near 0.64, 0.86, and 3.9 μm for rapid scene assessment. The 0.64 μm channel provides information on smoke, the 0.86 μm channel provides information on vegetation health and burn scars, and the 3.9 μm channel provides active fire detections. Examples of these red–green–blue composite images developed from observations collected by three operational satellite imagers (VIIRS on the polar-orbiting platform and the Advanced Baseline Imager and Advanced Himawari Imager on the geostationary platform) demonstrate that both red–green–blue composites are useful for fire detection and contain valuable information that is not present within operational fire detection algorithms. In particular, it is shown that Fire Temperature RGB and Day Fire RGB images from VIIRS have similar utility for fire detection as the operational VIIRS Active Fire products, with the added benefit that the imagery provides context for more than just the fires themselves. Significance Statement The current generation of operational polar-orbiting weather satellites that began with the launch of Suomi NPP offers new capabilities with regard to fire detection and monitoring. In particular, false color red–green–blue composite imagery is now being used by fire managers, incident meteorologists, and others in the fire management community to visualize a fire’s behavior and the context in which it occurs. This paper outlines two of these red–green–blue composites that have gained widespread use throughout the U.S. National Weather Service and the Alaska Fire Service. These red–green–blue composites have been applied to the current generation of geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites to great effect and have changed how incident management teams respond to wildland fires.