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MAPPING THE EXTENT AND INTENSITY OF 
MAJOR FOREST FIRES IN AUSTRALIA USING 
DIGITAL ANALYSIS OF LANDSAT IMAGERY 
M.L. Benson 
Division of Forest Research, CSIRO, 
Canberra, Australia 
I. Briggs 
Division of Computing Research, CSIRO, 
Canberra, Australia 
SUMMARY 
Australian native forests are characterised by the dominance of many 
species of the genus Eucalyptus. Some of these species are able to with- 
stand fire, others require fire as a factor in their regeneration process. 
Managers of forested land annually face the depredations of major 
fires and management strategies must take account of this. As a basis for 
planning, reliable maps of major fires are required to state not only the 
total area burned but also to identify those areas most severely damaged. 
As much of the forested land receives only extensive management, low cost 
approaches to fire mapping are essential. 
Satellite imagery offers a potentially cost-effective solution if fire 
intensity can be reliably determined and an operational system for mapping 
developed. Interest in operational Landsat applications has been renewed 
following the Government decision to provide Landsat Receiving and Data 
Processing Facilities by the end of 1979. 
This paper reports on progress in mapping the extent and intensity of 
wildfires in native forest in Australia concentrating mainly on digital 
analysis of the computer compatible tapes using the CSIRO-ORSER system. 
  
Keywords Forest fires, fire intensity, satellite imagery, digital analysis