Spatio-temporal distribution of forest fires and vegetation recovery in the Northeast of China

Post-fire vegetation can be monitored and analyzed over large areas in a time- and cost-effective manner by using satellite sensor imagery in combination with spatial analysis as provided by Geographical Information Systems (GIS). In this study, spatio-temporal distribution dynamics of burned area in the Northeast of China were analyzed by using a time series of MODIS Burned Area Product (MCD45) data from 2000 to 2010. The forest area damage caused by a large fire which occurred in the northeast of china, in May 1987 was also analyzed as a case study using Landsat TM/ETM+ images. Digital image processing methods, such as spectral profile analysis, vegetation indices and burn severity classification, were applied to the satellite images acquired before and after the forest fire. The inter-annual vegetation dynamic before, after fire events shows that vegetation recovery is a slow process, even after 23 years, some low-severely burned areas still exist in the maps.