Intercalibration of Fire Products from AVHRR and MODIS towards a Consistent Long-Term Record of Biomass Burning in Northern Eurasia

Principal Investigator: Dr. I. Csiszar University of Maryland, Department of Geography
Co-Investigator: D. Ershov Center of Forest Ecology and Productivity, Moscow, Russia
Research Assistant: T.Loboda University of Maryland, Department of Geography

This investigation uses field data and remotely sensed data from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), precursor data from AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer), and high resolution Landsat-7 ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper) data. The primary focus is on burned area estimates of the boreal forests of the Northern Eurasian part of Russia. The results of the study, which will provide improved time series data, will supply useful information for the climate change user community on inter-annual variability and long-term trends of biomass burning. It is also expected that the results could be used to define the continuity products for the Visible Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on board the future National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) satellites and to set requirements for future space-based systems for the global observation of biomass burning.