Detection and warning in tropical ecosystems : Fires and deforestation

ABSTRACT

Sensors on meteorological and earth observation satellites can provide regular local and global assessments of vegetation fires and deforestation. Suitable images can be made available within minutes of satellite overpass. These provide an up to date description of fuel condition, Fire location and forest boundaries, Such information can from the basis of fire risk and deforestation alarms, Furthermore, archives of data can be used to put current forest / fire conditions into an historical perspective, However, work of this nature on continental and global scales, of necessity, requires global data sets; some of the generic issues in collection and management of these data are reviewed. (AU)