Chaparral vegetation reflectance and its potential utility for assessment of fire hazard

Current methods for assessment of ignition potential often fail to alert wildland managers to the severity of drought-induced fire hazard at remote locations and over large geographic areas. After the severe fires of 1988 in the western United States, the need was heightened for improved fire hazard assessment techniques. Chaparral vegetation is particularly receptive to recurring drought-related episodes of extreme fire hazard and was thus chosen for study here. Demonstrated herein is that chaparral vegetation has considerably different reflecting properties at different levels of drought stress. As such, remote sensing may have utility for fire hazard assessment in this vegetation type.