Particulate matter (PM) is a widely used indicator of air quality. Satellite-derived aerosol products such as aerosol optical depth (AOD) have been a useful source of data for ground-level PM monitoring. However, satellite-based approaches for PM monitoring have limitations such as impacts of cloud cover. Recently, many studies have documented advances in modeling for monitoring PM over the globe. This review examines recent papers on ground-level PM monitoring for the past 10 years focusing on modeling techniques, sensor types, and areas. Satellite-based retrievals of AOD and commonly used approaches for estimating PM concentrations are also briefly reviewed. Research trends and challenges are discussed based on the review of 130 papers. The limitations and challenges include spatiotemporal scale issues, missing values in satellite-based variables, sparse distribution of ground stations for calibration and validation, unbalanced distribution of PM concentrations, and difficulty in the operational use of satellite-based PM estimation models. The literature review suggests there is room for further investigating: 1) the spatial extension of PM monitoring to global scale; 2) the synergistic use of satellite-derived products and numerical model output to improve PM estimation accuracy, gap-filling, and operational monitoring; 3) the use of more advanced modeling techniques including data assimilations; 4) the improvement of emission data quality; and 5) short-term (hours to days) PM forecasts through combining satellite data and numerical forecast model results.

Geostationary satellite remote sensing systems are a useful tool for forest fire detection and monitoring because of their high temporal resolution over large areas. In this study, we propose a combined 3-step forest fire detection algorithm (i.e., thresholding, machine learning-based modeling, and post processing) using Himawari-8 geostationary satellite data over South Korea. This threshold-based algorithm filtered the forest fire candidate pixels using adaptive threshold values considering the diurnal cycle and seasonality of forest fires while allowing a high rate of false alarms. The random forest (RF) machine learning model then effectively removed the false alarms from the results of the threshold-based algorithm (overall accuracy ~99.16%, probability of detection (POD) ~93.08%, probability of false detection (POFD) ~0.07%, and 96% reduction of the false alarmed pixels for validation), and the remaining false alarms were removed through post-processing using the forest map. The proposed algorithm was compared to the two existing methods. The proposed algorithm (POD ~ 93%) successfully detected most forest fires, while the others missed many small-scale forest fires (POD ~ 50–60%). More than half of the detected forest fires were detected within 10 min, which is a promising result when the operational real-time monitoring of forest fires using more advanced geostationary satellite sensor data (i.e., with higher spatial and temporal resolutions) is used for rapid response and management of forest fires.

Although remote sensing of active fires is well-researched, their early detection has received less attention. Additionally, simple threshold approaches based on contextual statistical analysis suffer from generalization problems. Therefore, this study proposes a deep learning-based forest fire detection algorithm, with a focus on reducing detection latency, utilizing 10-min interval high temporal resolution Himawari-8 Advanced Himawari Imager. Random forest (RF) and convolutional neural network (CNN) were utilized for model development. The CNN model accurately reflected the contextual approach adopted in previous studies by learning information between adjacent matrices from an image. This study also investigates the contribution of temporal and spatial information to the two machine learning techniques by combining input features. Temporal and spatial factors contributed to the reduction in detection latency and false alarms, respectively, and forest fires could be most effectively detected using both types of information. The overall accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score were 0.97, 0.89, 0.41, and 0.54, respectively, in the best scheme among the RF-based schemes and 0.98, 0.91, 0.63, and 0.74, respectively, in that among the CNN-based schemes. This indicated better performance of the CNN model for forest fire detection that is attributed to its spatial pattern training and data augmentation. The CNN model detected all test forest fires within an average of 12 min, and one case was detected 9 min earlier than the recording time. Moreover, the proposed model outperformed the recent operational satellite-based active fire detection algorithms. Further spatial generality test results showed that the CNN model had reliable generality and was robust under varied environmental conditions. Overall, our results demonstrated the benefits of geostationary satellite-based remote sensing for forest fire monitoring.

Forest fires can cause enormous damage, such as deforestation and environmental pollution, even with a single occurrence. It takes a lot of effort and long time to restore areas damaged by wildfires. Therefore, it is crucial to know the forest fire risk of a region to appropriately prepare and respond to such disastrous events. The purpose of this study is to develop an hourly forest fire risk index (HFRI) with 1 km spatial resolution using accessibility, fuel, time, and weather factors based on Catboost machine learning over South Korea. HFRI was calculated through an ensemble model that combined an integrated model using all factors and a meteorological model using weather factors only. To confirm the generalized performance of the proposed model, all forest fires that occurred from 2014 to 2019 were validated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) values through one-year-out cross-validation. The AUC value of HFRI ensemble model was 0.8434, higher than the meteorological model. HFRI was compared with the modified version of Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC) used in the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating Systems and Daily Weather Index (DWI), South Korea’s current forest fire risk index. When compared to DWI and the revised FFMC, HFRI enabled a more spatially detailed and seasonally stable forest fire risk simulation. In addition, the feature contribution to the forest fire risk prediction was analyzed through the Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) value of Catboost. The contributing variables were in the order of relative humidity, elevation, road density, and population density. It was confirmed that the accessibility factors played very important roles in forest fire risk modeling where most forest fires were caused by anthropogenic factors. The interaction between the variables was also examined.