Characterizing the surface heterogeneity of fire effects using multi-temporal reflective wavelength data

The relationship between changes observed in multi-temporal remotely sensed data and disturbance processes are increasingly being studied in support of various land process modelling and management decision applications. The possibility of mapping both the location and degree of change and retrieving information concerning the disturbance process are primary goals. This paper studies changes in reflective wavelength data caused by the action of fire. We consider the heterogeneity of fire effects in terms of the fraction of the observation that burned (f) and the combustion completeness (cc). A spectral mixture model and field and satellite observations of prescribed fires are used to examine the relationship between change in reflectance, and cc and f. The prescribed fires were lit in different South African savannah types during the SAFARI 2000 dry season campaign. Implications for the development of methods to retrieve cc and f, and for the development of methods to map the spatial extent of fire-affected areas with known detection capabilities are discussed.