Mapping burned areas in Mediterranean countries using spectral mixture analysis from a uni-temporal perspective

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of spectral mixture analysis (SMA) for mapping forest areas burned by fires in the Mediterranean area using low and medium spatial resolution satellite sensor data. A methodology requiring only one single post-fire image was used to carry out the study (uni-temporal techniques). This methodology is based on the contextual classification of the fraction images obtained after applying SMA to the original post-fire image. The results showed that the proposed method, using only one image acquired post-fire, could accurately identify the burned surface area (Kappa coefficient>0.8). The spatial resolution of the satellite images had practically no influence on the accuracy of the burned area estimate but did affect the possibility of detecting areas inside the perimeter of the burned area which were only slightly damaged.