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5 - Wildfire Monitoring with Satellite Remote Sensing in Support of Conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2018

By
Ilaria Palumbo ,
Abdoulkarim Samna ,
Marco Clerici  and
Antoine Royer
Edited by
Allison K. Leidner  and
Graeme M. Buchanan
Allison K. Leidner
Affiliation:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington DC
Graeme M. Buchanan
Affiliation:
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Edinburgh
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Summary

This chapter finds its rationale in the key ecological role fire plays on ecosystems and biodiversity. In particular, it focuses on the use of satellite information to improve habitat monitoring in protected areas. Conservation practitioners need this information to meet their goals and improve management effectiveness. To address these needs, the European Commission worked in collaboration with conservation institutions and protected areas in Africa to build two systems for the distribution of satellite-based information to support conservation and decision making. The first system, the Fire Monitoring Tool, is a stand-alone web portal which provides near-real time information of fire activity based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The tool provides specific ecological indicators about fire in the world protected areas. Whereas the second system, the eStation, is a network of servers receiving EO-based products, including wildfire, used for protected area ecological assessment, but also national and regional environmental monitoring. The benefits provided by the systems are described in two case studies in Tanzania and Niger. The examples show how park ecologists have improved habitat monitoring and conservation efforts in the protected areas and how this can be repeated in other conservation areas. 
Type
Chapter
Information
Satellite Remote Sensing for Conservation Action
Case Studies from Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems
 , pp. 119 - 163
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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