Savanna Burning:

Fire Severity Mapping

in northern Australia
Spatial Data Layers
Burnt Area
Fire Severity
Mapping
describes the
extent and
severity of fires

Fire
frequency

Time since
burnt

Inter-fire
intervals

Active fires
satellite image
derived:
locations of fires at
the time of satellite
overpass

Topographic
mapping

Hydrography,
Roads,
Landform,
Cultural &
Natural Assets

Habitat mapping
classes describe
vegetation structure
Fuel Loads

mass of fuel
components in
burnt areas

Fuel
accumulation

fuel amassed over
time

Fire monitoring and
management
Fire planning
burnt area mapping,
fire history and
topographic layers
used to create maps of
proposed burning for
subsequent year
Planning
post fire-season assessment of
fire history and ancillary
information
Assessment
area/locales burnt
efficacy of firebreaks

fire effects on assets

Prescribed
burning
anthropogenic fire
from fire plan

Prescribed burning program
from fire plan. Continuous
monitoring and iterative
assessment of the occurrence
of fires throughout the fire
season
Monitoring
the location of
current/recent fire
activity
Assessment
fire severity mapping
for the season to date

topographic layers
including natural
firebreaks & assets
Emissions
calculations
Burning efficiency
factors
The amount of
biomass burnt
currently based
only seasonality
alone
fire history information
use emissions
factors to calculate
CO
2
-equivalent
emissions
Burnt Area and
Fire Severity Mapping
fire history layers
Active fires Topographic
mapping

Habitat mapping
Fuels
How Spatial Data relate to the key
Fire Management elements:
- Emissions calculations
- Conservation Management
- Indigenous outcomes
For methane, CH
4



For nitrous oxide, N
2
O


Where the subscripts:
o = greenhouse gas species o (oc= CH
4
, on= N
2
O);
p = vegetation class
k = fire season
l = fuel size class
m = fire severity class
n = number of years since the patch of land was last burned
and parameters:
E
oc
= Emission (Gg) of CH
4
;
E
on
= Emission (Gg) of N
2
O;
M = Ratio of molecular mass to the elemental mass
A = Fire affected (scar) area (ha)
P = Patchiness
EF =

Emission factor (% of fuel elemental content released in fire)
FL=

Fuel load (t dry matter ha
-1
)
CC = Carbon content of fuel (gram of carbon per gram of dry fuel)
NC = Elemental nitrogen to carbon ratio
S

= Severity class (fraction of fires of severity class m in fire season k)
BEF = Burning efficiency

( )

|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
pk l m
klm m l npl pl k pk o oc
BEF S CC FL EF P A M E
( )

|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
pk l m
klm m l l npl pl k pk o on
BEF S NC CC FL EF P A M E
Calculating Emissions
The amount of biomass burned in savanna fires, and resultant accountable
greenhouse emissions, can be calculated using the equation outlined in the National
Greenhouse Gas Inventory (2004):

M = A x FL x BEF

where:

M = mass of fuel burnt in fires (tonnes)

A = estimated area of fires (hectares)derived preferably from Landsat

FL = fuel load (tonnes/hectare)accounting for accumulation of different fuel
components in different veg / fuel types

BEF = burning efficiency factortaking into account (a) patchiness,
(b) amount of fuel pyrolised, based on the fire severity.
Burnt Area Mapping
M = A x FL x BEF
88%
94%
93%
88%
89%
86%
89%
79%
80%
Burnt area mapping is validated with aerial transects
Fuels Mapping

M = A x FL x BEF
Stratifying the landscape into fuel types
Fuels Classification
Mapping
Closed Forest
Open Forest
Woodland
Sandstone Woodland
Sandstone Heath
Fuel Accumulation
M = A x FL x BEF

On ground permanent plots

Measurements of fuel types:
- fine fuels (grass and litter)
- shrubs
- coarse woody debris (diameter > 5mm to < 5 cm)
- heavy woody debris (diameter > 5cm)
- trees.
0
6
12
18
24
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
a. Eucalypt open forest
p<0.05, R2 = 0.6
p <0.001, R
2
= 0.52
0
2
4
6
8
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
) p >0.05
0
6
12
18
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
) p >0.05
0
4
8
12
16
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
) p >0.05
0
6
12
18
24
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p <0.001, R
2
= 0.46
0
2
4
6
8
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
) p >0.05
0
6
12
18
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
) p >0.05
0
4
8
12
16
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
) p >0.05
0
6
12
18
24
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p <0.001, R
2
= 0.86
0
2
4
6
8
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p <0.001, R
2
= 0.30
0
6
12
18
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p <0.01, R
2
= 0.25
0
4
8
12
16
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
F
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p <0.05, R
2
= 0.10
0
6
12
18
24
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (y)
L
i
t
t
e
r

f
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
F
i
n
e

f
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p <0.001, R
2
= 0.55
0
2
4
6
8
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (yr)
C
o
a
r
s
e

f
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
C
o
a
r
s
e

f
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p >0.05
0
6
12
18
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (yr)
H
e
a
v
y

f
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
H
e
a
v
y

f
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p >0.05
0
4
8
12
16
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time since fire (yr)
S
h
r
u
b

f
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
S
h
r
u
b

f
u
e
l

l
o
a
d

(
t

h
a
-
1
)
p >0.05
Fine fuel Coarse fuel Heavy fuel Shrubs
a. Eucalypt open forest




b. Eucalypt woodland


c. Sandstone woodland

d. Sandstone heath

30 plots
10 plots
61 plots
58 plots
70 plots
Time Since Last Fire
Derived from fire mapping.
Calculates fuel accumulation period.
Post Fire Assessment
M = A x FL x BEF

Main objectives
Determine fuel consumed through the year for
different fire severities
Characterise patchiness based on seasonality and
fire severity
Measure the emission factors (proportion of a gas
in the smoke)

Emission factors
M = A x FL x BEF
On ground gas sampling
Fire Severity
M = A x FL x BEF

- On ground sampling
to relate fire severity to
biomass burnt
- Create a remote sensed
fire severity map
product

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Simplified models of fire severity
Patchy
Low
Moderate
High
Extreme
8
88
8
88
8
88
8
88
8
8 r
N
733450
733450
733460
733460
733470
733470
733480
733480
733490
733490
733500
733500
733510
733510
733520
733520
733530
733530
733540
733540
8
6
1
8
0
8
0
8
6
1
8
0
8
0
8
6
1
8
0
9
0
8
6
1
8
0
9
0
8
6
1
8
1
0
0
8
6
1
8
1
0
0
8
6
1
8
1
1
0
8
6
1
8
1
1
0
8
6
1
8
1
2
0
8
6
1
8
1
2
0
8
6
1
8
1
3
0
8
6
1
8
1
3
0
8
6
1
8
1
4
0
8
6
1
8
1
4
0
Projection:
UTM Zone 52
Datum:
WGS84
Site 2: 12
th
May 2008
Illustrates the position of the 10 GPS points,
the average waypoint at the centre of the sampled area
within the pixeloid sampled by the spectrometer.
Methods
GROUND MEASUREMENTS
Collected at the same GPS
point
Describing proportions of
cover of the various fire
affected or unaffected
phenomena in various strata
5

0

m


t

r

a

n

s

e

c

t

Proportions of cover
5 x 5m quadrat
Transect
Methods
GROUND MEASUREMENTS
Collected at the same GPS
point
Describing stand structure
Scorch
Height
Crown
Height
Tree
Height
Tree radii
Floristics and Structure
5

0

m


t

r

a

n

s

e

c

t

Transect
Unburnt Low Fire Severity Moderate Fire Severity High Fire Severity
G
r
o
u
n
d


S
t
o
r
e
y







L
o
w
e
r

S
t
o
r
e
y







M
i
d

S
t
o
r
e
y









U
p
p
e
r

S
t
o
r
e
y

10
18
6
27
2
The proportions of each variable
within each fire severity class
for each stratum
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
MODIS3 MODIS4 MODIS1 MODIS2 MODIS5 MODIS6 MODIS7 MODIS-
NDVI
MODIS-
NBR
u
h
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
MODIS3 MODIS4 MODIS1 MODIS2 MODIS5 MODIS6 MODIS7 MODIS-
NDVI
MODIS-
NBR
u
l
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
MODIS3 MODIS4 MODIS1 MODIS2 MODIS5 MODIS6 MODIS7 MODIS-
NDVI
MODIS-
NBR
m
h
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
MODIS3 MODIS4 MODIS1 MODIS2 MODIS5 MODIS6 MODIS7 MODIS-
NDVI
MODIS-
NBR
l
m
Severe v not-Severe Low v Moderate v High

The Normalised Burn Ratio (NBR) MODIS Channel 6
MODIS Channels 2, 6 and 7

Models derived using AICc assessment of 50 sites of data
DOES NOT indicate Fire Severity DOES indicate Fire severity

The amount of Charred material
(blackened)
The amount of Ashened material
(whitened)
The amount of Green material
(photosynthetic vegetation)
The amount of Green AND non-Green
plant material (photosynthetic and non-
photosynthetic vegetation)

The application of NBR
Distinguish between Severe
and not-Severe fires
accuracy = 92%
Distinguish between Low and Moderate
Severity Fires, however the difference
appears to vary through the fire season
overall accuracy = 70%
Algorithms now developed for Classification

Next step is to calibrate an extensive satellite image dataset
Fire Severity Category Description
Low/Patchy < 80% horizontal fire effect;
Scorch in ground layer only
Low Scorch in ground layer only
Low/Moderate < 50% mid canopy scorch
Moderate >50% mid canopy scorch
Moderate/High < 50% upper canopy scorch
High > 50% upper canopy scorch
Extreme All canopy charred
Date Place Type Total Count Count
(Fire Severity)
17-18/ Apr Kakadu NP, NT chopper 526 282
18 Apr Kakadu NP, NT foot 18 18
22 May Kakadu NP, NT chopper 159 159
3 Jun Kimberley, WA chopper 1144 367
4 Jun Karrunjie Station, WA foot 21 21
11 Jun Karrunjie Station, WA foot 36 36
20 Jul Adelaide River Region/Kakadu
NP,NT
chopper 690 531
26 Jul Delta Downs foot 54 54
27 Jul Normanton/SW Cape York, Qld chopper 1430 683
28/29 Jul Gulf (nr QLD border), NT foot 60 60
29 Jul Cape Crawford, NT chopper 561 337
9 Aug Kimberley, WA chopper 275 38
12 Aug Prince Regent, WA chopper 453 251
14 Aug Ellenbrae Station, WA foot 39 39
15 Aug Kalumburu Rd, WA car 171 41
23 Aug west Arnhem Land, NT chopper 56 46
13-16 Sep Robinson River station, NT foot 92 92
16 Sep Robinson River region, NT chopper 112 85
20-22 Sep Nicholson Block, NT foot 11 11
26 Sep Doomadgee, Qld foot 60 60
27 Sep Burketown, Qld to Stuart Hwy, NT car 160 61
20 Oct East of Katherine, NT chopper 1159 121
21 Oct NW of Katherine, NT chopper 810 26
-1200
-1100
-1000
-900
-800
-700
-600
Patchy Low Low/Moderate Moderate Moderate/High High Extreme
error bars = standard error
-726.5
-910.5
High
Moderate
Low
severe
non-severe
Fire monitoring and
management
Fire planning
burnt area mapping,
fire history and
topographic layers
used to create maps of
proposed burning for
subsequent year
Planning
post fire-season assessment of
fire history and ancillary
information
Assessment
area/locales burnt
efficacy of firebreaks

fire effects on assets

Prescribed
burning
anthropogenic fire
from fire plan

Prescribed burning program
from fire plan. Continuous
monitoring and iterative
assessment of the occurrence
of fires throughout the fire
season
Monitoring
the location of
current/recent fire
activity
Assessment
fire severity mapping
for the season to date

topographic layers
including natural
firebreaks & assets
Emissions
calculations
Burning efficiency
factors
The amount of
biomass burnt
currently based
only seasonality
alone
fire history information
use emissions
factors to calculate
CO
2
-equivalent
emissions
Burnt Area and
Fire Severity Mapping
fire history layers
Active fires Topographic
mapping

Habitat mapping
Fuels