Background > Fire M3

Background Information

Fire Monitoring, Mapping, and Modeling (Fire M3)

Summary

Wildfires represent a significant agent of change in Canadian forest ecosystems. Approximately 9000 fires burn 3 million ha per year in Canada (based on a 10-year average). While only 2% to 3% of these wildfires grow larger than 200 ha, they account for almost 97% of the annual area burned. Thus, they provide an excellent opportunity to monitor active fires with a combination of low - and high-resolution sensors for the purpose of determining fire location, area burned, fire behavior, and fire severity. Given Canada's size, the use of remote sensing data is a cost-effective way to achieve a comprehensive overview of forest fire activity in near-real time.

The Fire Monitoring, Mapping, and Modeling System (Fire M3) is an initiative of the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) and the Canadian Forest Service (CFS), agencies of Natural Resources Canada.

The goals of Fire M3 are to use low-resolution satellite imagery to identify and locate actively burning fires on a daily basis; to estimate annual area burned; and to model fire behavior, biomass consumption, and carbon emissions from fires.

Infrared images from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites are acquired at the Prince Albert Satellite Receiving Station in Saskatchewan and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans facility in Mont-Joli, Que.

Processing of Images at CCRS (Ottawa)

• Geocoding the raw images using the satellite orbit model and an image chip library containing over 200 possible control points.

• Combining the images to obtain Canada-wide composites. Where images overlap, the pixels with the smallest zenith angle are selected.

• Identifying active wildland fires and smoke plumes using algorithms developed by CCRS.

• Producing zoomed-in regional images.

Subsequent Processing at CFS (Edmonton)

• Converting the images into Geographical Information Systems (GIS) compatible formats.

• Estimating fire weather conditions and fire behavior potential at hotspot locations using the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System.

• Producing images, reports, and data sets for Fire M3 and the National Atlas of Canada.

For more information, see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Partners and Collaborators:

• Natural Resources Canada
  
• CIFFC: Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre
  
• Alberta Sustainable Resource Development
  
• Canadian Forest Service
  
• United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service
  
• Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Rapid Response System
  
• Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
  
• GOFC-GOLD: Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics

Fire M3 Hotspot

Fire M3 Frequently Asked Questions

Fire M3 Data Sources and Methods

Last updated: 2006-07-08

Important Notices