Colour and False-colour Aerial Photography for Mapping Bush Fires and Forest Vegetation

Bushfircs are common in Australia. They cau:oemuch damage and considerable loss annually. However. some use could be made of these wildfires fer forest mapping if developments in colour and false-colour (colour infrared) aerial photography were more fully exploited. The advantages that colour and false-colour aerial photography have over pan~ chromatic minus-blue aerial photography are analyzed for the Australian forest '~nvironment. A technique is described. using colour or colour infrared aeri~.I film. either separately or together for multispectral analysIs. that could improve the accurate mapping of Australian sclerophyll Eucalyptus fe.rests (after fire) and provide valuable information on the effect of fire on forest ecology. This technique involves sequential aerial photography to record the "Very distinctive regeneration patterns that follow bushfires. This technique should have wide applica. tion for forest studies and for much forest mapping. both within and beyond Australia.