Abstract
Because cross-polarized radar returns are highly associated with volume
scatter, radar polarimetry returns tend to show strong evidence of
wildfire scars and recovery in forest and chaparral. We focus on the
polarimetry images from UAVSAR line SanAnd_08525, which covers a
roughly 20 km wide swath over the Transverse Range including parts of
the Santa Monica, San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains. We select
images from four acquisition dates from October 2009 to September 2020,
very roughly four years apart. These are compared to fire perimeters
from the national GeoMAC and NIFC databases for years 2003-2020, which
shows the areas affected by the major fires (west to east) Springs2013,
Woolsey2018, Topanga2005, LaTuna2017, Station2009, BlueCut2016,
Pilot2016, Slide2007, Butler2007 and many smaller fires. UAVSAR
polarimetry images are shown to be helpful in identifying types and
boundaries of fire, fifty-meter scale details of vegetation loss, and
variability of vegetation recovery in post-fire years.