Nearly 55% of the total forest cover in India is prone to fires every year. An estimated annual economic loss of Rs.440 crores is reported on account of forest fires over the country. Forest fires in India have environmental significance in terms of tropical biomass burning, which produces large amounts of trace gases, aerosol particles, and play a pivotal role in tropospheric chemistry and climate. Thus, there is need to carry out operational fire monitoring in India in response to concerns over the loss of forests and effects of widespread burning on global atmosphere.

Fires occur during early January to June each year with the highest fire frequency in March-April. The conventional methods of fire protection in India cover an elaborate network of fire lines, fire watchtowers, block lines etc., with very minimum human resources, which at times end up with inefficient fire control and management strategies due to accessibility constraints in forested regions. Satellite remote sensing with its synoptic and temporal coverage can augment the ground operations in terms of fire detection, damage assessment and mitigation planning in a time and cost effective way.

Synergy of Indian Remote sensing Satellite (IRS) systems covering IRS-P6, IRS-1D, and data given by TERRA/AQUA Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), National Oceanic and Aeronautic Administration - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR), Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-Operational Line scan System (DMSP-OLS), Environment Satellite (ENVISAT) are useful in forest fire detection, active fire progression monitoring, near real time damage assessment, and mitigation planning.

The Decision Support Center (DSC) is established at National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) as part of Disaster Management Support Programme of Department of Space (DOS), for working towards effective management of disasters in India. Considering the importance of forest fire management in India, a comprehensive Indian Forest Fire Response and Assessment System (INFFRAS) is invoked under DSC activities of NRSC, which integrates multi-sensor satellite data and ground data through spatially and temporally explicit GIS analysis frame work. The INFFRAS is designed to provide services on

• Fire alerts :Value-added daily daytime TERRA/AQUA MODIS fire locations and DMSP-OLS derived daily nighttime fire locations
• Fire progression: Progression of fires using daily day and night fire location information given by MODIS/DMSP-OLS and burnt area expansion derived from temporal high resolution data sets
• Burnt area assessment:Mapping episodic fire events using moderate and high resolution optical data sets
• Forest fire mitigation plans.