SPACE-TIME COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT FIRE DETECTION
PRODUCTS IN THE LA PLATA BASIN (1995-2009)
Luiz Scandelai Júnior1; Geoffrey D. Mercer1; Florent Mouillot2; João Paulo R. A. D. Barbosa1
1- Laboratório de Ecofisiologia Vegetal- DBI, Universidade Federal de Lavras: CP 3037, Lavras – MG, Brazil.
2- Institut de recherche pour le Développement - Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Montpellier, France.
.
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVE
Due to a lack of field data or of a validated remote sensing product for use in
To compare five global remote sensing databases, and evaluate them based
tropical regions, little is known about the fire regime and the potential impacts of
on their capacity to describe the fire dynamics in the LPB through the various
fires in the La Plata Basin (LPB). The LPB is the most important economic
techniques and tools of the Geographic Information System (GIS).
region, and contains the largest population in South America. An alternative
approach for field studies in the LPB is the use of global products for the remote
sensing of fires.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study Area
La Plata River Basin (LPB) (Figure 1);
Represents 17% of the continent of South America (BORGHETTI, 1993).
Fig. 1 - Geographical location of the La Plata Basin with the high, middle, low, and delta sections
of the Paraná river in south America (modified TUCCI and CLARKE, 1998).
Database and Analysis
 Time Series: 1995 to 2009;
 Parameters: Normalized Fire Index (NFI) for the comparison of databases in
space (resolution of 0.5°) and time (monthly, seasonally, and anually) for fires in
the LPB.
MAIN RESULTS
1.0
(A)
ATSR
NOAA
AQUA
TERRA
TRMM
0.8
NFI
0.6
0.4
0.2
DEC
NOV
OCT
SEP
AUG
JUL
JUN
MAY
APR
MAR
FEB
JAN
0.0
0.8
(B)
0.7
0.6
NFI
0.5
0.4
Fig. 3- Spatial variability of fire occurrence in the LPB. (ATSR, TRMM and NOAA (1998 – 2009);
TERRA and AQUA (2002-2009)).
0.3
ATSR
NOAA
AQUA
TERRA
TRMM
0.2
0.1
CONCLUSION
0.0
MAM
JJA
SON
80
Fire Occurrence (%)
Temporal and spatial variability of fire occurrence appears to be controlled by
ATSR
NOAA
AQUA
TERRA
TRMM
60
(C)
40
climatic variations and anthropogenic activities. The existence of large spatial
variability between the different fire detection products in the LPB indicates the
20
need for validation of these products with field data.
0
-20
REFERENCES & SUPPORT
-40
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
-60
1997
Anomaly of fire occurrence (%)
DJF
Fig. 2 - (A) and (B) Monthly and seasonal variability of fires in the LPB using the NFI. The
symbols represent the mean and standard error bars. (C) Inter-annual variability (%) in relation to
the mean fire occurrence in the LPB. Remote sensing products used: ATSR, TRMM e NOAA
(1998 – 2009); AQUA e TERRA (2002-2009).
BORGHETTI, J.R.; OLIVEIRA, J.A.; SBARDELINI, E., 1993. Aspectos Ambientais da Bacia do Prata. In:
Instituto Acqua, Simpósio Internacional sobre Aspectos Ambientais da Bacia do Prata, Foz do Iguaçu.
TUCCI, C.E.M.; CLARKE, R.T., 1998. Environmental Issues in the La Plata Basin. Water Resources
Development , vol. 14 N.2 p 157-173.
Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle
et Evolutive