by Tawanda Manyangadze (Author)

Remote sensing has been widely used in active forest fire detection; however there are some limitations in the operational contextual algorithms. These algorithms are greatly affected by clouds and different land cover types such as land and water with inherent temperatures. This book, therefore, provides a new multi-temporal threshold algorithm for near real-time forest fire detection using geostationary satellites, supplemental to the existing algorithms. This algorithm is based on temperature in IR3.9 channel and the difference between IR3.9 and IR10.8 channels. The multi-temporal threshold algorithm proved to have higher fire detection rate (50%) as compared to MSG FIR-G (3.7%) when ground data from Portugal was used for validation. This superiority was also confirmed over Southern Africa when MODIS fire product was used for validation. This analysis shows the possibility of manipulating the temporal domain of geostationary satellites in monitoring highly temporal environmental phenomenon. This algorithm could be especially useful to professionals in forest fire management, or anyone else who may be interested in applying geostationary satellites in environmental monitoring.

by Robert Sorrell (Author)

Fire lookout towers have graced the highest peaks in the Blue Ridge Mountains for more than a century. Early mountaineers and conservationists began constructing lookouts during the late 1800s. By the 1930s, states and the federal government had built thousands of towers around the country, many in the Blue Ridge. While technology allowed forestry services to use other means for early detection of fires, many towers still stand as a testament to their significance. Author Robert Sorrell details the fascinating history of the lookouts in the Blue Ridge's forests