Improved Detection of Small-Scale Forest Fires in the Mediterranean Region from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Time Series

Recent droughts increase the risk of wildfires in the Mediterranean region, which in turn produce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from biomass burning, further exacerbating climate change. Accurate mapping of forest fires is urgently required to avoid underestimating GHG emissions in national GHG inventories and for fire management and prevention. In this study, we test a cumulative sum change detection algorithm on both Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data in two test areas in the Sardinia region, Italy. The objective is to improve the mapping of two small-scale fires (less than 50 ha) undetected by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). Through the integration of multi-sensor information, the resulting maps are able to match more than 50% of the field-measured burnt area. The maps also provide the exact timing of the fire events, matching the records from the Forest Service. Given its versatility and mapping potential, this methodology shows promise for application in other Mediterranean regions.