Remote sensing for wildfire monitoring: Insights into burned area, emissions, and fire dynamics

Abstract

Remote sensing plays a central role in monitoring wildfires throughout their life cycle, including assessing pre-fire fuel conditions, characterizing active fire locations and emissions, and evaluating post-fire effects on vegetation, air quality, and climate. This primer examines current remote sensing products used in wildfire research, focusing on their application in deriving burned area and emissions data and tracking the dynamic spread of individual fire events. We evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these products and address key challenges such as generating complete, continuous, and consistent long-term monitoring data. We also explore future opportunities and directions in remote sensing technology for wildfire characterization and management.