Retrieval of vegetation moisture indicators for dynamic fire risk assessment with simulated MODIS radiance

Vegetation moisture is a key parameter in fire risk modeling. Many authors have demonstrated the role of remote sensing in the assessment of the equivalent water thickness (EWT), which is defined as the weight of liquid water per unit of leaf surface. However, forest fire danger models rely on fuel moisture content (FMC) as a measure of vegetation moisture. FMC is defined as the ratio of the leaf liquid water weight over the leaf dry weight. In a previous research it has been shown the potential of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) ground reflectance data in retrieving both EWT and FMC at leaf level. Though the atmosphere alters ground signature recorded by the sensor, in this paper it will be shown that a simple index can be designed that allows a fast and accurate estimation of FMC (r² = 0.83) with MODIS data.