int. j. remote sensing, 2001, vol. 22, no.

13, 2641 –2647

An evaluation of diVerent bi-spectral spaces for discriminating burned

shrub-savannah

S. TRIGG*† and S. FLASSE†

*P.O. Box 2881, Oshakati, Namibia
†Natural Resources Institute, Medway University Campus, Chatham Maritime,
Kent ME4 4TB, UK; e-mail: s.p.j. asse@greenwich.ac.uk

(Received 12 September 2000; in Ž nal form 21 February 2001)

Abstract. We report on the numerical separation of burned and unburned vegeta-

tion classes using diVerent bi-spectral spaces, based on the analysis of spectro-
radiometric data collected in situ and convolved to Ž ve spectral bands at red to
mid-infrared (MIR) wavelengths. A combination of two MIR bands was found
to have strong spectral separation of burned and unburned samples. Using these
bands, a spectral index was formulated which is highly sensitive to spectral
changes due to burning and relatively insensitive to intrinsic variability. Results
have implications for the remote sensing of burned shrub-savannah using bands
available on high- and low-spatial resolution sensors, in particular, Landsat TM
and MODIS.

1. Introduction
Due to the substantial impacts of biomass burning, one area of remote sensing
research is focused on developing algorithms to detect areas burned annually at a
global scale (Pereira et al. 1997 ).
Reliable remote detection of burned vegetation requires the use of spectral bands
that are sensitive to signiŽ cant changes in radiance in response to burning, henceforth
called burn signals (Trigg and Flasse 2000 ), which can be isolated form spectral
changes from other sources, henceforth called perturbing factors. More simply, the
spectral bands used should provide a suYcient ratio of signal (due to burning) to
noise (from perturbing factors) to allow reliable detection of burned areas.
Perturbing factors include the geometry of illumination and observation, variable
atmospheric conditions and intrinsic spectral variation at the surface, such as:
d Variable photosyntheti c states and type of pre-burn vegetation. The spectral
re ectance of pre-burn vegetation varies with vegetation type and also changes
markedly as vegetation senesces. These factors in uence the spectral contrast
between pre-burn vegetation and burned surfaces. For example, greenness
measures such as NDVI are of limited use in areas where primarily senescent
vegetation burns, as is usually the case in African savannahs (Eva and
Lambin 1998 ).
d Variable properties of combustion residues. Fire of diVerent combustion eYciency
produce combustion residues of variable re ectance, from dark-coloure d char
Internationa l Journal of Remote Sensing
ISSN 0143-116 1 print/ISSN 1366-590 1 online © 2001 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/01431160110053185
2642 S. T rigg and S. Flasse

(incomplete combustion) to brighter ash for eYcient combustion (Stronach

and McNaughton 1989).
d T emporal-spectral evolution of burned surfaces. Surface re ectance increases
rapidly after grassland burns, especially in savannah ecosystems (Frederiksen
et al. 1986, Trigg and Flasse 2000 ). For example, diVerent thresholds have been
necessary for the remote detection of areas burned at the beginning and end
of a time period of just 10 days (Eva and Lambin 1998).
d Surface heterogeneity. Pre- and post-burn surfaces usually comprise a complex
mosaic of cover types.
Even within a single ecosystem, perturbing factors account for signiŽ cant spectral
variation that aVects the magnitude and residence time (duration), and hence detect-
ability of burn signals. The degree to which burn signals can be isolated from all
other sources of spectral variation will largely determine the accuracy of burned area
detection. Designing reliable detection algorithms therefore requires knowledge of
spectral displacements due to burning and due to perturbing factors, in each eco-
system where Ž res are to be detected remotely. While external factors such as
observation and atmospheric conditions have been covered widely in the literature
(e.g. Kaufman 1989, Meyer et al. 1995), inherent variations in the burn signal have not.
In this Letter, we explore spectral displacements due to burning and perturbing
factors, based on the analysis of spectroradiometric data recorded in situ in a burned
shrub-savannah . Using diVerent two-band combinations, we Ž rst derive the numerical
separation between burned and unburned vegetation classes, both subject to intrinsic
perturbing factors at the surface. Having identiŽ ed a strongly discriminating band
combination, we present a spectral index designed to isolate spectral changes caused
by burning from variability due to perturbing factors, as a way of increasing signal
to noise available for detection.

2. Materials and methods

Spectral measurements were made at burned and pre-burn vegetation sites in a
shrub-savanna h in East Caprivi, north-east Namibia. Spectra were collected using a
vertical-looking, tripod-mounted GER spectroradiometer as described in Trigg and
Flasse (2000). The measurements were made under a range of conditions related to
intrinsic perturbing factors (table 1) to allow spectral variability resulting from these
factors to be characterised. All measurements were made between 9:30 and 11:40
GMT during the period 6 June to 3 July 1999, within Caprivi’s May–November
burning season.
Re ectance spectra were convolved into Band Equivalent Re ectance (BER) for
Ž ve spectral bands at red to mid-infrared wavelengths, as described in Trigg and Flasse

Table 1. Sources of potentially perturbing spectral variability (perturbing factors) inherent

in the in situ data.

Sample attributes Range measured

Pre-burn vegetation type and state: Senescent grasses

Green to senescent shrubs
Combustion residues: Char, char and ash, ash
Spectral-temporal evolution: 0 to 23 days post burn
Spatial integration: 30 cm FOV, Ž xed
 Remote Sensing L etters 2643

(2000). We used the Ž lter functions of bands 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the MODIS (Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiomete r) instrument, to cover approximatel y the range
of channels available (at re ective wavelengths) on sensors commonly used for detecting
burned areas (table 2).
Blue and green bands were not considered due to their particularly high suscepti-
bility to atmospheric scattering in smoky conditions (Miura et al. 1998), combined
with their weak discriminatory power in the case of burned areas (Trigg and
Flasse 2000).
The JeVries Matusita separability test was applied over diVerent two-band com-
binations (bi-spectral spaces) to determine which space was most discriminating of
the burned areas tested against unburned areas. J–M provides a measure of the
distance between two classes in a given set of bands and has a lower bound of zero
for identical classes and an upper bound of 1.41 for perfectly separated classes
(Niblack 1986). To illustrate how the spectroradiometric data can also be used to
explore the eVects of particular perturbing factors, we present J–M values for diVerent
types and mixtures of pre-burn vegetation. Three vegetation classes were tested
against the burned class, namely: Grass, Shrubs and Both (pooled grass and shrubs
tested against the burned class).
Having identiŽ ed the bi-spectral space with largest J–M distance between burned
and unburned vegetation samples, a scatter plot was used to visualise the conŽ gura-
tion of the respective sample clusters within this space. This assisted the formulation
of a linear spectral index sensitive to changes caused by burning but relatively
insensitive to noise from perturbing factors.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. J–M analysis
Figure 1 plots in ascending order the J–M distance between the burned surface
class and the three unburned vegetation classes for diVerent bi-spectral spaces. J–M
distances show dependence upon the vegetation classes considered and the bands
used:
d Red-SMIR and SNIR-LNIR spaces: low J–M values indicate considerable
overlap between burned and unburned classes and consequently low potential
for use in burned area detection algorithms.
d Red-LNIR, SNIR-SMIR and red-SNIR spaces: Separation is moderate and
dependent on the vegetation stratum considered. J–M distances are largest if

Table 2. MODIS bands and comparable bands from other high repeat frequency sensors.

MODIS bands Comparable bands on other sensors

Spectral range
EM region Band (mm) AVHRR VGT/XS ATSR-2 TM

Red 1 0.620–0.670 Yes Yes Yes Yes

SNIR 2 0.841–0.876 Yes Yes Yes Yes
LNIR 5 1.230–1.250 – – – –
SMIR 6 1.628–1.652 – Yes Yes Yes
LMIR 7 2.105–2.155 – – – Yes
SNIR: Short wavelength Near-Infrared; LNIR: Long wavelength Near-Infrared; SMIR: Short
wavelength Mid-Infrared; LMIR: Long wavelength Mid-Infrared.
2644 S. T rigg and S. Flasse

Figure 1. J–M distance between burn and vegetation classes in diVerent bi-spectral spaces.

shrubs burn, smallest if senescent grass burns and intermediate for pooled
grass and shrubs (Both). This suggests limited potential of these spaces in
savannah and other ecosystems where primarily senescent grass and shrubs
burn.
d In the remaining spaces (red-LMIR, LNIR-SMIR, SNIR-LMIR, LNIR-LMIR
and SMIR-LMIR), J–M distances exceed 1.0 for all vegetation strata, indicating
increased potential over the previous spaces. J–M distances are largest for all
vegetation strata in SMIR-LMIR space, with values all close to J–M’s upper
bound. Furthermore, as both bands are in the mid-infrared, this space should
be especially robust against perturbations from even optically thick smoke
plumes, which are virtually transparent at MIR wavelengths (Miura et al. 1998 ).
As the SMIR-LMIR space yields near-maximum J–M distances for all vegetation
strata, there will be little beneŽ t in using additional bands to separate the burned
and unburned samples. However, out of the sensors in table 2, this particular space

Figure 2. (a) Bi-spectral plot showing an example of a linear index and ideal orientation of
displacements in response to burning (perpendicular to index solines) and displace-
ments due to perturbing factors (parallel to isolines). (b) Burn and vegetation classes
plotted in the SMIR-LMIR space, where (­ ) corresponds to burned areas, (s ) to pre-
burn shrubs and (+) to pre-burn grass. MIRBI isolines have been superimposed and
are annotated with index values (in bold type). (c) Schematic representation of spectral
variability due to diVerent perturbing factors (vegetation type and photosynthetic
state, spectral evolution with time after burn, diVerent combustion residues). The
major direction of spread due to these factors aligns approximately orthogonal to the
sensitivity direction of the MIRBI index in SMIR-LMIR spectral space.
 Remote Sensing L etters 2645

(a) (b)

(c)
2646 S. T rigg and S. Flasse

is only available on MODIS and TM. For other sensors, further analysis (not
reported here) suggests that separation will be increased signiŽ cantly by using addi-
tional bands (including thermal bands). The remote detection of burned areas using
any of the above spaces may also require extra bands to resolve any spectral
confusion with targets not included in this analysis, e.g. water, cloud, cloud-shadow
and urban areas.

3.2. A spectral index in SMIR-L MIR space for detecting burned savannah
The mathematical formulation of a spectral index for detecting burned vegetation
will aim to orientate lines of equal index value (isolines) perpendicular to displace-
ments caused by burning and parallel to displacements from perturbing factors in a
discriminating spectral space. Having done this, spectral changes due to burning will
yield displacement vectors that cut across isolines and change index values signiŽ c-
antly, giving the index its required sensitivity to burn signals. Conversely, displace-
ments due to perturbing factors will occur mainly parallel to isolines and therefore
have little eVect upon index values (Verstraete and Pinty 1996 ). These requirements
are illustrated in Ž gure 2(a).
With isolines thus orientated the index becomes a convenient way of maximising
the ratio of signal to noise available to algorithms for detecting burned vegetation,
and spectral indexes have already been used widely for this purpose (Pereira et al.
1997, Pereirea 1999).
Plotting the data in SMIR-LMIR space (Ž gure 2(b)) reveals that the vegetation
(shrub plus grass) and burn clusters are near-linear, near-parallel and distinctly
separate.
With this conŽ guration, a simple linear index is suYcient to provide isolines
similar to those required in Ž gure 2(a). A Mid-Infrared Burn Index (MIRBI) was
derived as a perpendicular index based on the slope and intercept of a line Ž tted to
the burned samples in SMIR-LMIR space using linear regression:
L MIR=0.98SMIR+1.5 (1)
where L MIR is Band Equivalent Re ectance in LMIR and SMIR is Band Equivalent
Re ectance in SMIR.
The index becomes:
MIRBI=10L MIR­ 9.8SMIR+2 (2)
MIRBI isolines are superimposed on the SMIR-LMIR plot in Ž gure 2(b). It is
evident that any changes due to burning will cause displacements that cut across
isolines and change index values signiŽ cantly. Furthermore, Ž gure 2(c) shows schem-
atically that the major direction of spread of spectral variability due to perturbing
factors (variable photosyntheti c state of pre-burn vegetation, combustion residues
and spectral evolution with time after burn) aligns almost parallel to the isolines.
The perturbing factors will therefore aVect index values much less than burning.

4. Conclusion
Of the two-band combinations considered, the SMIR-LMIR space yielded the
highest (near-maximum) numerical separation of burned and unburned classes in
conditions of variable vegetation type, photosyntheti c state, combustion residues
and spectral evolution with time after burn. The MIR wavelength range of both
 Remote Sensing L etters 2647

bands should also make this space especially robust against the perturbing eVects of
scattering by even optically thick smoke plumes.
MIRBI was designed in the discriminating SMIR-LMIR space, to provide high
sensitivity to spectral changes caused by burning, and relatively low sensitivity to
intrinsic variability. It therefore has potential for detecting burned areas using
remotely sensed imagery, although this potential must be conŽ rmed using data
sensed at coarser spatial resolutions and containing mixed pixels of burned and pre-
burn vegetation. We are currently assessing the use of MIRBI to discriminate burned
areas on Landasat TM and MODIS imagery, with encouraging preliminary results.

Acknowledgments
Thanks are expressed to Andrew Trigg and Martin Hipondoka for their assistance
in the Ž eld, to the NERC (Natural Environment Research Council ) Equipment Pool
for Field Spectroscopy for loaning the Spectroradiometer and to the European
Union Joint Research Centre and the Natural Resources Institute, University of
Greenwich for Ž nancial support.

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