NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Disasters II Team (California Disasters) The Radar Games: Catching Fires [cue dramatic music...] >> NARRATOR (JERRY): In the state of California...where accurate fire monitoring can mean the difference between successful fire fighting and a raging inferno...comes a plan...to detect fire...with radar >> PILOT (MARK): Okay, we’ll be coming around over the fire any minute now. Over. [Video of clouds over the fire] >> MARK: Oh no, clouds...what are we going to do now? >> ERIKA: No worries--our radar will cut through those clouds and catch that fire. >> MARK: That’s it switching the precision path autopilot off. We’ve got the data... bring her home! [cue dramatic trailer music…] >> NARRATOR (JERRY): From the studio that brought you almost-award-winning Don’t Wastewater!; sleeper hit Bye, Bye Bayou; the breathtaking drama To Breathe or Not to Breathe; and everyone’s favorite, Fired UP! for Radar; comes a project that has everyone talking...about fire...and radar...and NASA! [cue more dramatic trailer music…] >> NARRATOR (JERRY): California is in trouble, and scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology are ready to come to the rescue with the help of a ragtag group of participants from the DEVELOP National Program... >> BRENT: I have an idea...we need your help! >> SANG-HO: Nobody has ever tried this before. It’s up to you to make this happen. [pause dramatic music] >> JERRY: Our orders are to evaluate the use of airborne radar to detect fires. >> MARK: Airborne radar? That’s crazy! >> CHRISTINE: Isn’t there already remote sensing support for fire response? >> JERRY: There are but these thermal images only provide fire perimeters and hotspots and they are very costly and takes a long time. [cue dramatic music...] >> JERRY: NASA satellites provide free data, but as we all know there are some limitations. >> ERIKA: There’s a MODIS sensor passing by every day, but the thermal resolution is 1 km a pixel--not so great when you are fighting fires on the ground. >> CHRISTINE: Landsat has much better spatial resolution, but a repeat pass of 16 days. >> MARK: You know I heard they have airborne support from the National Infrared Operations center in Boise, Idaho. That imagery is supposed to be really useful. >> ERIKA: It sure is, but unfortunately those planes fly at night, only at night. [pause dramatic music] >> JERRY: Okay DEVELOPers, this is where we come in. [cue hopeful music…] >> JERRY: Our advisor Brent Minchew has come up with a fast method for detecting fire damage to vegetation using cross-polarized L-band synthetic aperture radar data. These radar waves can penetrate clouds and smoke, and airborne synthetic aperture radar has very high resolution. But most importantly cross-polarized L-band radar data can show where there is vegetation, or not. >> CHRISTINE: So, if a fire comes through, a change map made from this data could show where the vegetation got burned away? >> JERRY: That’s right. And NASA has an L-band radar, the UAVSAR, mounted on a Gulfstream III, that could potentially fly day or night in support of active fire response. It’s our job to show the world that this method can make a difference. [cue dramatic army-type music…] >> NARRATOR(JERRY): Watch as the team forms an alliance with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection [CAL FIRE!] and the United States Forest Service, to develop an exciting new method to monitor and asses wildfires. >> ERIKA: I was able to get firescar shapefiles from the US Forest Service to help us evaluate our results. Look at these case studies! Red shows the areas of greatest change in vegetation. The fire scars are clearly showing up in forests and shrublands. >> MARK: It looks like grasslands don’t show up as well...maybe they don’t respond to L-band radar very strongly? >> JERRY: ...good work... >> NARRATOR(JERRY): Follow the team as they search for validation using field data ...more field data… and FLY in NASA’s very own C20-A airplane out of Armstrong Flight Research Center. [pause dramatic music…] NARRATOR(JERRY): What? Seriously?! You guys got to fly on the Gulfstream III?!!! Aw, C’mon! [cue title sequence with EPIC music…] NARRATOR(JERRY): THE RADAR GAMES...CATCHING FIRES...Starring - [jerry eats a sandwich] Jerry Heo [erika salutes] Erika Higa [christine pops in] Christine Rains [mark looking cute] ...and Mark Barker >> NARRATOR (JERRY): So many people helped us with this project and we are truly grateful! No, really, we can’t thank you guys enough!