1. USDA Forest Service, Remote Sensing Applications Center, FSWeb: http://fsweb.rsac.fs.fed.us WWW: http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac/ Rapid Disturbance Assessment and Services (RDAS) Program Overview USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center

2. Rapid Disturbance Assessment and Services (RDAS) Program Tactical and strategic remote sensing support in response to disturbance eventsTactical and strategic remote sensing support in response to disturbance events –“Rapid” depends on the context (hours to months) –Disturbance events: wildfires, Wx events, floods, etc. –Support provided to Forest Service units and external agency partners Current program activities include: –Remote sensing-based rapid event detection and mapping –Post-event condition assessment –Disturbance data analysis –Disturbance information management and distribution –Long-term support to incident management teams

3. Detection and Response Strategic and tactical fire detection, monitoring & mapping, and incident support Post-Fire Assessment Incident burn severity mapping & characterization Preparedness Fire risk assessment and fire intelligence RSAC Fire Support Programs and Services Remote sensing/geospatial support to the Forest Service and other agencies for all phases of fire management

4. Additional RDAS Activities Satellite Data Acquisition/Processing OperationsSatellite Data Acquisition/Processing Operations –Direct readout ground station operations –High volume data processing Technology Development and ImplementationTechnology Development and Implementation –Web/desktop geospatial tools and applications Fire-related Geospatial Technology TransferFire-related Geospatial Technology Transfer –Programmatic training/outreach activities Cost Reimbursable ProjectsCost Reimbursable Projects –Remote sensing/geospatial, fire-related International ActivitiesInternational Activities –Coordination, working groups, committees –International Programs support (Africa, Bhutan) –Various direct support requests

5. Predictive Services Program Support (http://psgeodata.fs.fed.us) Predictive Services Program at NIFC and GACCs − Decision support for proactive fire management; Anticipate suppression resource needs RSAC provides geospatial data, analytical products and applications − Weather, fuels, fire intelligence and significant fire forecasts

6. RSAC Direct Readout Leveraging Transmission of Data Directly From Satellites MODIS/VIIRS direct readout data are collected and processed by RSAC to facilitate near real-time operational monitoring applications MODIS/VIIRS direct readout data are collected and processed by RSAC to facilitate near real-time operational monitoring applications NASA Simulcast Viewer

7. Active Fire Mapping Program (http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us) Satellite detection and monitoring of wildfire activity in CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii & Canada Leverages NASA and NOAA assets −MODIS −AVHRR Facilitates decision support for strategic planning & response for U.S. and Canadian fire agencies −Prioritize allocation of fire suppression assets −Focus tactical airborne reconnaissance assets −Integrated into fire-related applications and decision support systems Development of early detection capabilities underway −GOES −VIIRS

8. Extension of Active Fire Mapping Program Near real-time MODIS/VIIRS products − Land − Atmosphere − Ocean Basis Basis for national/regional scale resource monitoring. Leverages evolving data processing technologies provided by NASA Leverages evolving data processing technologies provided by NASA Direct Readout Data Portal (http://directreadout.fs.fed.us)

9. Tactical Scale Fire Mapping Support (http://nirops.fs.fed.us) RSAC supports USFS National Infrared Operations (NIROPS) High resolution airborne fire detection and monitoring High resolution, daily fire map products provided by 6:00 AM −Delineate fire perimeter and active fire fronts −Determine line of containment −Identify problem areas – hot spots inside & outside containment line −Identify hot spots during the mop-up phase Data/maps support tactical incident command operations

10. Unmanned Aircraft Systems Demonstrate/evaluate UAS payloads and capabilities (historically)Demonstrate/evaluate UAS payloads and capabilities (historically) –EO/IR video and mapping cameras –Wx sensors –Communications relay –Software technologies to generate NRT geospatial products Conduct activities to facilitate use of UAS in the agencyConduct activities to facilitate use of UAS in the agency –Support Forest Service UAS Advisory Group

11. RSAC Post-Fire Mapping/Severity Assessment Pre-fire Post-fire dNBR Burn Severity LandsatNBR Difference Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) NBR = (NIR – SWIR) / (NIR + SWIR) dNBR = Pre NBR – Post NBR Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) 6/8/2005 6/14/2007 Change detection conducted using pre/post-fire satellite image pairsChange detection conducted using pre/post-fire satellite image pairs Vegetation indices are used to delineate burned area and characterize burn severityVegetation indices are used to delineate burned area and characterize burn severity

12. RSAC Satellite-Based Burn Severity Mapping Programs Summary RSAC Program (Objectives/Specifications) Time of Assessment Since Fire Burned Area Emergency Response Support −Where are the hazards and how can they be mitigated? −Assessment of fire effects on soils/watershed hydrologic function −Conducted on USFS and DOI agency lands Immediately (Emergency Assessment) Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Condition after Wildfire −How do we determine the best way to restore damaged forests? −Assessment and characterization of post-fire forest conditions −Conducted on USFS lands only Approximately one month (Initial Assessment) Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity −How effective are our fire management policies? −Multi-decadal mapping of the location, extent and ecological burn severity of all large fires −Conducted on all lands: federal, state and private Up to 1 year (Initial/Extended Assessment)

13. Burned Area Emergency Response Support (http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac/baer) Provide rapid delivery of imagery and derived products to Forest Service BAER teams Provide rapid delivery of imagery and derived products to Forest Service BAER teams −Conducted on fires exceeding thresholds for size, severity and/or soil resource damage −Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC), preliminary vegetation burn severity, based on dNBR/dNDVI assessment −BAER teams use BARC with field observations and other spatial data to generate a soil burn severity map −Soil burn severity map used to target and mitigate hazards to life and property RSAC provides imagery and data products within 24 hours of image acquisition RSAC provides imagery and data products within 24 hours of image acquisition 1,300 requests supported since 2001 (39 million acres / 15.8 million hectares) 1,300 requests supported since 2001 (39 million acres / 15.8 million hectares) Soil Burn Severity BARC

14. Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Condition after Wildfire (http://www.fs.fed.us/postfirevegcondition) Provide Landsat imagery and derived products characterizing fire effects on forest resources to silviculturists Provide Landsat imagery and derived products characterizing fire effects on forest resources to silviculturists − Conducted on fires where > 1,000 acres of NFS forested land is affected − Assessment based on RdNBR – a variant of dNBR - to derive post-fire forest condition layers : Burn severity Burn severity % basal area loss % basal area loss % canopy cover loss % canopy cover loss −Silviculturists use as decision support to identify and prioritize land suitable for reforestation 465 incidents completed since 2007 (~12 million acres / 4.8 million hectares)

15. Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (http://www.mtbs.gov) Provide imagery and derived products for all large fires − Provided for fires > 1,000 acres in western U.S.; > 500 acres in eastern U.S. − Post-fire extent and burn severity layers based on dNBR assessment − Products are used to support: − Assessment of fire/severity trends − Assess effectiveness of national fire management policies − Land cover product updates − Resource management and monitoring activities 19,200 fires completed for 1984-2014 (~130 million acres/52.6 million hectares)

16. USDA Forest Service, Remote Sensing Applications Center, FSWeb: http://fsweb.rsac.fs.fed.us WWW: http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac/ Questions? Brad Quayle 801-975-3737/bquayle@fs.fed.us