Protocol for the validation of the Sentinel-2 FMC data product

Abstract

Satellites provide essential data for bushfire management to government, industry, and civil sectors. These data must be consistent, high-quality, reliable, and repeatable to inform fire management decisions and operations. The ANU team has developed a pre-operational near-real-time data service - the Australian Flammability Monitoring System (AFMS, Yebra et al., 2018). The AFMS currently relies on MODIS (500 m) data and can be accessed as a pre-operational service through the ANU (http://anuwald.science/afms). In response to industry and end-user needs, the algorithms behind the AFMS have been modified to work on Sentinel-2 data, however this new product requires spatial and temporal validation so that end users have confidence in the product. The validation of the Sentinel-2 Fuel Moisture Content (FMC) data product will increase the likelihood of rapid adoption by fire management agencies at both the Local and State Government levels. Satellite derived products can be validated directly using an independent data source that is representative of the target values or indirectly through product inter-comparison and/or by collecting measurements across various scales and upscaling. This protocol details the procedure for routine collection of Live Fuel Moisture Content (LFMC) for the validation of the ANU’s Sentinel-2 FMC data product. For the successful operationalization of this protocol, we acknowledge that working in areas with dense canopies or heavy understory vegetation such as mallee-heathlands and pine plantations, the collection of samples using star or other transects may be extremely time consuming or impractical (Muir et al., 2011). With this in mind, this protocol has developed to better suit the routine operations of personnel from local government areas (LGAs), emergency services, and other stakeholders whose time and resources may be limited.