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Description of Eire and Study Area 
The fire chosen for the study was the Mt Buffalo fire referred to 
earlier. It was selected because of the existence of ground verification 
data and the fact that the area was imaged by Landsat 1 within a few days 
of the fire being controlled. A detailed report on the Mt Buffalo fire 
including a narrative of the fire's progress and suppression action and a 
study of the environmental effects of the fire was prepared by Dexter, 
Heisler and Sloan (1977). Some of the highlights of that report have been 
included here as background to the fire mapping project. 
The fire started on December l4th 1972 and was finally brought under 
control on December 25th though mopping up and patrol work continued for 
several weeks till declared safe on January 15th, 1973. The total area 
burnt was approximately 12 240 ha. The fire burned over a wide range of 
topography, soils and vegetation types at elevations varying from approx- 
imately 300 to 1500 m above sea level. 
Three main vegetation types occur in the area burnt: 
(i) the sub-alpine complex consists of a mosaic of open plains of 
tussock grass, Poa australis, containing heath, fen and bog 
communities and woodlands of snow gum, Fucalyptus pauciflora, 
with occasional mountain gum, E. dalrympleana, and alpine ash, E. 
delegatensis. Most of the plains had not been burnt for many 
years and carried heavy fine-fuel accumulations. 
(ii) the wet sclerophyll type occurs on the mountain slopes at 
elevations ranging from 915 to 1370 m. The dominant species is 
alpine ash which occurs in pure stands, some of which are dense, 
young and even-aged having resulted from previous fires. There 
is generally a well developed shrub layer. At elevations near 
915 m the alpine ash gives way to six other eucalypt species 
including the peppermints E. radiata and E. dives and the gums 5. 
rubida, E. viminalis and E. chapmanianna and E. dalrympleana. 
(iii) the dry sclerophyll type occurs below 915 m, the main species 
being red stringybark, F. macrorhyncha, apple box, F. aromaphloia, 
long-leaf box, E. goniocalyx and broad-leaved peppermint, E. 
dives. Several of the wet sclerophyll species occupy gully sites 
along with blue gum, E. bicostata, and manna gum, F. viminalis. 
There is little understorey vegetation on the drier sites but a 
well developed shrub and grass layer occurs on the moister areas. 
Fuel quantities varied with elevation and aspect, being greater 
on the more elevated, sheltered, southerly aspects than on the 
lower, more exposed, northerly aspects. 
Description o f Available Data 
The total area burnt by the Mt Buffalo fire was covered by Landsat 
scene no. 1161-23260 which was imaged on 31st December, 1972. Standard 
visual imagery (single band and colour composite) and a computer compatible 
tape (C.C.T.) were available. Colour aerial photography of the burnt area, 
flown within three weeks of the Landsat image, was made available by the 
Forests Commission, Victoria. Details of this photography are provided in 
a previous section. A planimetric map at a scale of 1:63 360 prepared by 
interpretation of these photographs was published in a preliminary version