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International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Using hyperspectral imagery to estimate forest floor consumption from wildfire in boreal forests of Alaska, USA

Sarah A. Lewis A F G , Andrew T. Hudak A G , Roger D. Ottmar B , Peter R. Robichaud A , Leigh B. Lentile C , Sharon M. Hood D , James B. Cronan B and Penny Morgan E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 1221 S Main Street, Moscow, ID 83843, USA.

B USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, 400 N 34th Street, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98103, USA.

C Department of Forestry and Geology, The University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383, USA.

D USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, 5775 US Highway 10 W, Missoula, MT 59808, USA.

E Department of Forest Resources, University of Idaho, 6th and Line Street, Moscow, ID 83843, USA.

F Corresponding author. Email: sarahlewis@fs.fed.us

G Authors have contributed equally.

International Journal of Wildland Fire 20(2) 255-271 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF09081
Submitted: 21 July 2009  Accepted: 17 June 2010   Published: 30 March 2011

Abstract

Wildfire is a major forest disturbance in interior Alaska that can both directly and indirectly alter ecological processes. We used a combination of pre- and post-fire forest floor depths and post-fire ground cover assessments measured in the field, and high-resolution airborne hyperspectral imagery, to map forest floor conditions after the 2004 Taylor Complex in Alaska’s boreal forest. We applied a linear spectral unmixing model with five endmembers representing green moss, non-photosynthetic moss, charred moss, ash and soil to reflectance data to produce fractional cover maps. Our study sites spanned low to moderately high burn severity, and both black and white spruce forest types; high cover of green or non-photosynthetic moss in the remotely sensed imagery indicated low consumption, whereas high cover of charred moss, ash or soil indicated higher consumption. Strong relationships (R2 = 0.5 to 0.6) between green moss estimated from the imagery and both post-fire depth and percentage consumption suggest that potential burn severity may be predicted by a map of green (live) moss. Given that the depth of the post-fire forest floor is ecologically significant, the method of mapping the condition of the organic forest floor with hyperspectral imagery presented here may be a useful tool to assess the effect of future fires in the boreal region.

Additional keywords: burn severity, carbon, duff, hyperspectral remote sensing, moss.


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