Detection, Evaluation, and Analysis of Global Fire Activity Using MODIS Data

dc.contributor.advisorJustice, Christopher Oen_US
dc.contributor.authorGiglio, Louisen_US
dc.contributor.departmentGeographyen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2006-06-14T05:51:49Z
dc.date.available2006-06-14T05:51:49Z
dc.date.issued2006-04-26en_US
dc.description.abstractGlobal biomass burning plays a significant role in regional and global climate change, and spaceborne sensors offer the only practical way to monitor fire activity at these scales. This dissertation primarily concerns the development, evaluation, and use of the NASA Terra and Aqua MODIS instruments for fire monitoring. MODIS is the first satellite sensor designed specifically for global monitoring of fires. An improved operational fire detection algorithm was developed for the MODIS instrument. This algorithm offers a sensitivity to small, cool fires and minimizes false alarm rates. To support the accuracy assessment of the MODIS global fire product, an operational fire detection algorithm was developed and evaluated for the ASTER instrument, which provides higher resolution observations coincident with the Terra MODIS. The unique data set of multi-year MODIS day and night fire observations was used to analyze the global distribution of biomass burning using five different temporal metrics which included, for the first time, mean fire radiative power, a measure of fire intensity. The metrics show the planetary extent, seasonality, and interannual variability of fire. Recognizing differences in fire activity between morning and afternoon overpasses, the impact of the diurnal cycle of fire activity was addressed using seven years of fire data from the VIRS sensor on-board the TRMM satellite. A strong diurnal cycle was found in all regions, with the time of peak burning varying between approximately 13:00 and 18:30 local time. Given interest in area burned among atmospheric chemical transport and carbon cycle modelers, a data set was developed utilizing the MODIS global fire and vegetation cover products to estimate monthly burned area at 1-degree spatial resolution. The methods, products and results presented in this thesis provide the global change research and fire management communities with products for global fire monitoring and are currently being used in the development of the next generation of operational satellite fire monitoring systems.en_US
dc.format.extent3411299 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3490
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledGeographyen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledEnvironmental Sciencesen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledbiomass burningen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledglobal fireen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledMODISen_US
dc.titleDetection, Evaluation, and Analysis of Global Fire Activity Using MODIS Dataen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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