HR: 0830h
AN: B41C-0885    [PDF]
TI: Towards Understanding The Spatial Relationship Of Land Cover Thermal Anomalies And Anthropogenic Features On The Siberian Landscape.
AU: * Kovacs, K
EM: kkovacs@forest.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Science Systems and Applications, Inc., 10210 Greenbelt Rd., Seabrook, MD 20706 United States
AU: Ranson, J
EM: kenneth.j.ranson@nasa.gov
AF: NASA GSFC, Biospheric Sciences Branch Code 923, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Sun, G
EM: guoqing@taiga.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: University of Maryland - College Park, Dept. of Geography, College Park, MD 20742 United States
AB: Fires are a common occurrence in the Siberian boreal forest. The Thermal anomalies product of the Terra MODIS product suite is designed to detect thermal anomalies (i.e. hot spots) on the Earth's surface. In most cases hot spots detected by MODIS in Siberia are wild fires, but many are related to agricultural burning or industrial activities. Along with the MODIS products, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are being used to locate and identify thermal anomalies. The results show that the frequency of fires (hot spot anomaly pixels) decreases with distance from human settlements and transportation lines. This alone does not imply causality but might be an indicator of natural and anthropogenic factors acting together to shape where and when fires are burning. These findings have important implications for carbon and climate modeling to quantify and predict carbon storage and climate change and to provide an insight into anthropogenic impacts on land use and land cover change.
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
DE: 1640 Remote sensing
DE: 9320 Asia
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting