LD_008_022_001_00_00_0_19990120 Readme File SMOKE/SULFATES, CLOUDS AND RADIATION EXPERIMENT IN BRAZIL (SCAR-B) DATA SET Version 5.5 June 1, 1995 to October 31, 1995 DATA SET NAME: GOES-8 ABBA Diurnal Fire Product for SCAR-B and the 1995 Fire Season in South America POINTS OF CONTACT: Principal Investigator: Name: Elaine Prins OR Joleen Feltz Address: 1225 West Dayton Street Telephone: (608) 263-6607 Fax: (608) 262-5974 Internet Address: elaine.prins@ssec.wisc.edu OR joleen.feltz@ssec.wisc.edu URL: none Data Center Contact: Langley DAAC Science, User, and Data Support Group NASA Langley Research Center MS 157D Hampton, VA 23681-0001 Tel: (757) 864-8656 Fax: (757) 864-8807 Internet: larc@eos.nasa.gov URL: http://eosdis.larc.nasa.gov/ DATA SET DESCRIPTION The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has produced diurnal GOES-8 derived fire products for the 1995 fire season (June--October 1995) with version 5.5 of the GOES-8 Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (ABBA). The diurnal fire products were produced for 1145, 1445, 1745, and 2045 UTC coinciding with peak burning hours. The GOES-8 Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (ABBA) fire products are derived from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-8 imager radiances from bands 1 (visible), 2 (3.9 micron), and 4 (11 micron). The GOES-8 ABBA software incorporates the following ancillary data sets a.) NMC (NCEP) Global Tropospheric Analysis Data: Parameter used: Total Precipitable Water (PWAT). b.) Olson World Ecosystem Data Base (Version 1.4D, Olson, 1992): Parameter used: Ecosystem type Although this data base contains 74 ecosystem types (ranging from 0-73), our study area in South America only includes some of these ecosystem types. The data set consists of ASCII text files for each time period and corresponding daily GIF and HDF files. The ASCII text files are described below: ASCII text files are named using the following convention: scarb_g8fir_yymmdd_x where: yymmdd indicates the year (yy), month (mm), and day (dd) and x indicates a number 1 through 4 for the time of day UTC (1 = 1145, 2 = 1445, 3 = 1745 and 4 = 2045). The dates given in the files themselves are indicated by yyddd where yy indicates the year and ddd indicates Julian date. The file size is variable depending on the number of fires detected for that time period (the largest ASCII text file is approximately 260K). There are a total of 550 ASCII text files. Each ASCII text file consists of information for active fires identified in GOES-8 multispectral imagery by the GOES-8 ABBA at a specific time period. The first line in each ASCII text file includes the Julian date and UTC time for the fire product. The second line contains column description headers. Each successive line contains information for a given fire pixel including fire pixel location (longitude/latitude); estimated fire size (km2) and average fire temperature (K); fire pixel ecosystem type; and fire pixel flag. The ecosystem type is based on the Olson World Ecosystems database (Version 1.4D, Olson, 1992). The fire flags range from 0-2 and are defined as follows: 0 The fire pixel was identified and processed by the GOES-8 ABBA. The GOES-8 ABBA was able to determine estimates of sub-pixel fire characteristics (size and temperature). 1 Although the fire pixel was identified by the GOES-8 ABBA, it was saturated and could not be processed for sub-pixel fire characteristics. 2 Although the fire pixel was identified by the GOES-8 ABBA, it could not be processed for sub-pixel fire characteristics due to cloud contamination. Geophysical parameters in the data files are as follows: Parameter Unit Fill Value Minimum Value Maximum Value (Deg) (Deg) Longitude degrees none -75.77 (or 75.77 W) -36.12 (or 36.12 W) Latitude degrees none -39.87 (or 39.87 S) .13 (or .13 N) Fire size km2 -9.0000 0.0005 2.3900 Fire temperature Kelvin -9. 400. 1472. Ecosystem type unitless none 23 59 Fire flag unitless none 0 2 Geophysical parameters in the ordering system are FIRE EXTENT and FIRE COUNT which also map to BIOMASS BURNING. Processing Level: 3 Spatial Coverage (Range): Minimum Latitude: ~40°S Maximum Latitude: ~0 (Equator) Minimum Longitude: ~35°W Maximum Longitude: ~75°W NOTE: On some occasions there will be missing/bad lines in the raw GOES-8 imagery which results in no fires being able to be detected in those geographic regions. The GOES-8 ABBA software checks for missing/bad lines and does not process these values. Spatial Resolution: The resolution of the GOES-8 imager data and the derived GOES-8 fire product is 4km. Temporal Coverage: Start Date (mm/dd/yy): 06/01/95 Stop Date (mm/dd/yy): 10/31/95 Temporal Resolution: 3-hourly during the day at 1145, 1445, 1745, and 2045 UTC NOTE: There are certain time periods/days when the GOES-8 data could not be captured in real time, could not be processed due to calibration errors, or were simply not available due to either ground station or local ingestor difficulties. Missing time periods are as follows: Julian Date Time (UTC) 152 1145 160 1145 164 2045 169 1145, 1445, 1745, 2045 170 1145 177 2045 184 1145, 1445 190 1145, 1445 192 1745 197 1145, 1445, 1745, 2045 199 1445, 1745 201 2045 215 1445 221 1445, 1745, 2045 231 1745, 2045 235 1445 240 1445, 1745 242 2045 246 1745, 2045 247 2045 249 2045 251 1745 270 1445 273 1145, 1445, 1745, 2045 274 1145, 1445, 1745, 2045 283 1145, 1445, 1745, 2045 284 1445 285 1445, 1745, 2045 286 1145 287 1745 288 1145, 1445 290 1445 296 1145 298 1745, 2045 299 1445 An example of the first few lines of a GOES-8 ABBA fire product ASCII text file is provided below: Date: 95150 Time: 1745 UTC Longitude Latitude Size(km2) Temp(K) Ecosystem Fire Flag -65.68 -10.55 0.0050 987. 32 0 -55.23 -10.62 -9.0000 -9. 33 1 -43.22 -10.73 0.0321 645. 29 0 -48.79 -10.98 -9.0000 -9. 32 2 Browse Products: The data set includes GOES-8 ABBA fire product daily GIF and HDF files described below: 1. File name & Size: The GIF and HDF files are named using the following convention: g8fyyddd.v55.gif and g8fyyddd.v55.hdf where: yyddd indicates the year (yy) and Julian date (ddd). There are 153 each GIF and HDF browse images. The size of each GIF image (in bytes) is variable (approx. 35K each) with each image having a resolution of 960x750. McIDAS software was used to create the browse images. 2. Contents: The GIF and HDF files are graphical depictions of the fire product contained in the ASCII text files. Each GIF and HDF file displays the diurnal GOES-8 ABBA fire product for the study region on a given date. The display consists of four panels showing the locations of GOES-8 ABBA derived fire pixels on a mercator projection at four time periods (1145, 1445, 1745 and 2045 UTC). PROCESSING HISTORY: The data set was processed November 7, 1995 The 1995 data set is complete, although we are processing subsequent years which we may eventually wish to submit to the Langley DAAC. No further processing is required by the Langley DAAC. The version number of this data set is Version 5.5 Computer system(s) on which this data set was processed. Software: McIDAS version 7.0 Hardware: SGI Indigo2 Extreme Operating System: IRIX version 5.3 Media Used: Not Applicable Verification/validation procedures used with this data set. Prior to processing the GOES data with the ABBA software, an automated McIDAS routine is used to adjust the GOES imagery if necessary to maintain navigation to within 4km at nadir. The navigation routine uses a database of landmarks in South America to renavigate the GOES imagery when necessary. The GOES-8 ABBA software contains checks to screen for blank lines or anamolous data in the GOES imagery. After processing, the GOES ABBA fire data product is plotted and compared with the GOES imagery to assure that the software has successfully screened the satellite data. Although limited in scope, GOES-8 ABBA results have been compared to ground truth estimates in North and South America which indicate the GOES ABBA can identify fires that are on the order of a few acres in size and that GOES ABBA fire size and temperature estimates are typically in line with ground truth observations. USER COMMUNITY Dr. Tracy DeLiberty at the University of Delaware Dr. Olivier Boucher at the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique in Paris, France Dr. Yoram Kaufman at NASA GSFC A variety of users who download from our anonymous ftp site REFERENCES 1. Matson, M, and J. Dozier, 1981: Identification of subresolution high temperature sources using a thermal IR sensor. Photo. Engr. and Rem. Sens., 47, 1311-1318. 2. Menzel, W.P., and E.M. Prins, 1996: Monitoring biomass burning with the new generation of geostationary satellites. In Biomass Burning and Global Change, edited by J.S. Levine, pp. 56-64, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 3. Olson, J.S., 1992: World Ecosystems (WE1.4). Digital Raster Data on a 10-minute geographic 1080x2160 grid. In Global Ecosystems Database, Version 1.0: Disc A. Boulder, CO: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Geophysical Data Center. 4. Prins, E.M. and W.P. Menzel, 1994: Trends in South American biomass burning detected with the GOES visible infrared spin scan radiometer atmospheric sounder from 1983 to 1991. Jour. Geo. Res., Vol. 99, 16,719-16735. 5. Prins, E.M., W.P. Menzel, D.E. Ward, 1997a: GOES-8 ABBA Diurnal Fire Monitoring during SCAR-B. In SCAR-B Proceedings, edited by V.W.J.H. Kirchhoff, pp 153-157, Transtec Editorial, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 6. Prins, E.M., W.P. Menzel, J.M. Feltz, and D.E. Ward, 1997b: An Overview of GOES-8 Diurnal Fire and Smoke Results for SCAR-B and the 1995 Fire Season in South America. Submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research, SCAR-B special issue. 7. Prins, E.M. and J.M. Feltz, 1997c: SCAR-B GOES-8 Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (ABBA: Version 4.5) Fire Product. Contained in the Regional Satellite Fire Compilation CD, IGBP-DIS Office, Toulouse, France If you have any questions concerning this data set, please contact the Langley DAAC User and Data Services Office: Langley DAAC Science, User, and Data Support Group NASA Langley Research Center MS 157D Hampton, VA 23681-0001 Tel: (757) 864-8656 Fax: (757) 864-8807 Internet: larc@eos.nasa.gov URL: http://eosdis.larc.nasa.gov/ Document Creation Date: May 12, 1998