Prescribed burning in tallgrass prairie affects a wide range of human and natural systems.
Consequently, managing this biome based on sound science, and with the concerns of all
stakeholders taken into account, requires a method for mapping burned areas. In order to devise
such a method, many different spectral ranges and spectral indices were tested for their ability to
differentiate burned from unburned areas at both the field and satellite scales. Those bands
and/or indices that performed well, as well as two different classification techniques and two
different satellite-based sensors, were tested in order to come up with the best combination of
band/index, classification technique, and sensor for mapping burned areas in tallgrass prairie.
The ideal method used both the red and near-infrared spectral regions, used imagery at a spatial
resolution of at least 250 m, used satellite imagery with daily temporal resolution, and used
pixel-based classification techniques rather than object-based techniques. Using this method,
burned area maps were generated for the Flint Hills for every year from 2000-2010, creating a
fire history of the region during that time period. These maps were compared to active fire and
burned area products, and these products were found to underestimate burned areas in tallgrass
prairie.
