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Fire mapping approaches and its implications on management of Fraser Island's natural resources
Conference presentation

Fire mapping approaches and its implications on management of Fraser Island's natural resources

Sanjeev K Srivastava, Lee King, C Mitchell, Aaron Wiegand, R W (Bill) Carter, Alison Shapcott and Jeremey Russell-Smith
Biennial Great Sandy Conference, 4th (Brisbane, Australia, 29-Jul-2011)
Fraser Island Defenders Organisation (FIDO)
2011
url
http://www.fido.org.au/FIDOat40/FIDO%20at%2040%20Abstracts.pdfView
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Abstract

Environmental Science and Management fire management Fraser Island
Conservation managers are often reliant on manually derived fire history products that map the burn perimeter. These mostly provide an overestimate of the burnt areas. Archives of satellite images offer an opportunity for another approach to mapping, complementing the perimeter mapping approach. We conducted a study on Fraser Island; the World Heritage property in subtropical, fire-prone eastern Australia; to study fire regime characteristics for different vegetation types over a twenty year period (1989-2008). The Landsat Thematic Mapper images were analysed using a modified differential normalised burn ratio approach where a combination of shortwave infra-red and near infra-red bands were used. Additionally, the burnt area maps were derived from historical manual mapping approach maintained by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services. The Landsat derived approach provided a more reliable estimate of the fire scars, demonstrated by a better relationship with the vegetation classes and fuel ages; however, for several events this approach had a tendency to underestimate the burnt areas. The characterisation of fire scars with diverse vegetation classes, using the combination of two approaches, provided deeper insight into the fire ecology for subsequent fire management practices.

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