EnviroSAR Introducing the Moors for the Future Pilot, Peak District National Park

Systematic monitoring of burned areas as a result of wildfires is challenging in UK moorlands and heathlands due to a lack of resources to regularly survey post-fire damage on the ground (McMorrow, 2011). In addition, current Earth Observation (EO) services such as the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) use optical data which provide only limited temporal coverage due to the regular occurrence of cloud cover in these more temperate moorland and heathland ecosystems (Millin-Chalabi, 2016). EnviroSAR address these limitations by using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Interferometric SAR (InSAR) for delivering regular burned area information derived from Sentinel-1A and -1B data. The SAR/ InSAR technique has previously been demonstrated for characterisation of wildfires pre-2011 using the older C-band ERS-2 and ASAR sensors (Millin-Chalabi et al., 2014, Millin-Chalabi, 2016 and Amici et al., 2016). To deliver a first pilot for UK moorlands EnviroSAR is collaborating with Moors for the Future Partnership (MFFP) to validate SAR/ InSAR results with ground based datasets. Furthermore, an initial Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) using ERDAS APOLLO Enterprise has been developed to deliver burned area results for the MFFP pilot in the Peak District National Park. The bespoke EnviroSAR geoportal is currently hosted at The University of Manchester and is supported by our technical partner Sterling Geo and the Satellite Applications Catapult as a result of EnviroSAR winning the Copernicus Masters Sustainable Living Challenge in autumn 2016. This new downstream EO initiative aims to help wildfire stakeholders (water companies, conservation groups, insurance companies, fire and rescue services) better understand patterns of wildfire occurrence in the UK to address more effectively the economic and environmental issues caused post-fire (response costs, erosion, flooding, water discolouration).