Wildfire Prevention Using Remote Sensing

     Using Remote Sensing we are able to utilize this technology to fight forest fires faster, better, and with more accuracy.  We are able to tell when certain areas are more prone to fires than others and focus our energy in these areas to help prevent these fires before they even start.  We can also use remote sensing to help identify population densities so we know where to concentrate our fire fighting efforts. There are many different ways to go about this, depending on what type of land cover we are looking at.  For example, we will use different methods to determine the danger of a fire occuring in a boreal forets in Canada as opposed to a brush fire in Africa.  

    These fires range in intensity based on numerous different factors, and we can look at these factors in order to determine the severtiy of a fire, direction, and longevity.  These factors include a variety of meterological influences (wind speed, moisture content of the land and air, cloud cover, and average local temperatures).

     We can also use remote sensing to determine possible economic losses, amount of C02 released, health hazards, and populations affected all due to forest fires.  I wont talk about all of these here, but they are and integral part to determing the affects of a forest fire.