CIMA Research Foundation researchers participated in the mapping of burnt areas by processing the data acquired by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite
Since mid-April, a series of fires have been burning in the forest around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel satellites were used to help the authorities manage the fires. As part of the mission, CIMA Research Foundation used Sentinel-2 data to produce maps of the burnt area, comparing the images acquired before the fires were ignited with those taken during the fires.
The presence of radioactive material and the possible release of radioactivity from the burnt trees and soil are the aspects that arouse the greatest fear for these fires. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service, the EU disaster emergency response service, has been activated. Satellites have been used to map the area and identify areas affected by the fire. Our researchers also participated in the data collection and processing, working in particular on the images taken by the Sentinel-2 satellite. The satellite is equipped with a multispectral sensor that allows the acquisition of photographs in the visible and infrared bands. Therefore, the possibility of observing the area of interest is limited by the presence of clouds or smoke, as in the case of fires. For this reason, the creation of the maps required an analysis and selection of the images in which the visibility was better, acquired before and during fires. Then, the satellite images were processed with the AUTOBAM algorithm published on the WASDI platform, and compared with those before the fires.
The result is in the image shown here, in which the area affected by the fire is indicated in red.
For more information, here the news published by ESA