BIRD Detection and Analysis of High-temperature Events: First Results

The primary mission objective of a new small Bi-spectral InfraRed Detection (BIRD) satellite is detection and quantitative analysis of high-temperature events like fires and volcanoes. An absence of saturation in the BIRD infrared channels makes it possible to improve false alarm rejection as well as to retrieve quantitative characteristics of hot targets, including their effective fire temperature and area and the radiative energy release. For pronounced fire fronts, the front length and radiative intensity (radiative energy release per 1 m of the front length) are additionally estimated. During more than 15 months of its operation, BIRD has detected numerous natural wild fires and volcanic events. The smallest man-made fires detected by BIRD, which were verified on-ground, had an area of 12 m2 at daytime and 4 m2 at night