Efficacy of Remote Sensing in Early Forest Fire Detection: A Thermal Sensor Comparison
Isabelle-Gabriele Hendel, Gregory M. Ross
Abstract
The objective of this research was to determine what technologies could be used to improve current forest fire detection methodology. Although human observation provides a wealth of information on the presence and size of fires, remote sensing technologies can provide increasingly more detailed and accurate information. Thus, the cost efficiency, thermal accuracy, spatial accuracy, range and resolution of three different thermal sensors mounted on aircraft or UAV were analyzed. Our results demonstrate that thermal infrared remote sensing technologies can be used in early fire detection. Each of the sensors tested demonstrated limitations in different contexts and could be applied in forest fire detection in various ways depending on environmental conditions.