On 9 July, 2024, at the IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) in Athens, Chiara Aquino from CMCC presented exciting new research on the detection of small forest fires in the Mediterranean region using satellite data. The paper was presented during the session “Sustainable Development Goals through Image Analysis and Data Fusion of Earth Observation Data”.
With the Mediterranean region experiencing more frequent droughts, the risk of wildfires has significantly increased. These fires not only destroy forests but also release large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, further worsening global warming. The research, part of SDGs EYES’s Pilot 1 “GHG emissions from Forest Fires”, has advanced mapping tools to detect small forest fires, improving national GHGs reporting on LULUCF (Land Use Land Use Change and Forestry).
The CMCC team, part of the SDGs-EYES consortium, tested a new method using data from two types of satellites, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2. The team used the data to detect small fires (less than 50 hectares) in a fire-prone area of Sardinia, Italy. Traditional systems like the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) often miss these smaller fires. However, the new approach successfully identified over 50% of the burnt areas measured in the field, and the timing of the fires matched records from local forest services. During the presentation, a demonstration of Pilot 1 on SDGs-EYES platform was also shown. This tool allows users to calculate GHG emissions from forest fires across Italy for any year between 2000 and 2023. This tool accelerates countries’ ability to monitor and meet their sustainable development targets, in particular SDG 13 – Climate Action, which focuses on climate action.
IGARSS24 presented a great opportunity to further disseminate the project’s results and to connect with the research community, in addition to receiving useful feedback and linking with other projects and initiatives.