Evaluation of ERS SAR data for prediction of fire danger in a boreal region

Research was conducted to determine the utility of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for measuring the fuel moisture status of boreal forests as ref lected in Fire Weather Index Codes. Three years (May to August 1992-1995) o f SAR data from the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS) were analysed o ver the 1990 Tok Alaska burned and adjacent unburned black spruce forests. Corresponding Fire Weather Index Codes of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger R ating System were obtained from Tok Area Forestry, Station number 500720. S trong relationships were expected between the SAR data and fire codes becau se of the dependence of ERS SAR backscatter on the moisture status of fores ts and exposed surfaces (burn scars). A stepwise multilinear regression pro cedure was used to analyse the relationships. Three statistically significa nt multilinear regression models resulted from this analysis procedure. The models developed show there is potential for using ERS SAR backscatter to generate indicators that are related to Fire Weather Index, Duff Moisture C ode, and Drought Code. This research could lead to the ability for remote p rediction of fire danger over large regions at relatively fine spatial reso lution with minimal weather information.