Empirical testing of subpixel detection of fire

Typical existing fire detection algorithms for airborne and satellite based imagers employ the Planckian radiation in the 3.5 -5 μm and 8 - 14 μm spectral regions. These algorithms can have high false alarm rates and furthermore, the issue of validation of subpixel detection is a lingering problem. We present an empirical testing of fire detection algorithms for controlled and uniform burning and hot targets of known area. Image data sets of the targets were captured at different altitudes with the Modular Imaging Spectrometer Instrument (MISI). MISI captures hyperspectral VNIR and multispectral SWIR/MWIR/LWIR imagery. The known range of target areas ranges from larger than the MISI IFOV to less than 0.5% of the IFOV. The in situ temperatures were monitored with thermocouples and pyrometers. Spectroradiometric data of targets and backgrounds were also collected during the experiment. The data were analysed using existing algorithms as well as novel approaches. The algorithms are compared by determining the minimum resolvable fire pixel fraction.