METHODS
IMAGERY ACQUISITION
We obtained LANDSAT 8 imagery from USGS Earth Explorer that was captured on August 20th, 2020.
We chose to analyze data from August because a wildfire in Topanga would be more likely during late summer/early fall due to the heat and dryness of the environment.
ANCILLARY DATA SOURCES
To create our maps in ArcGIS Pro, we sourced additional data and shapefiles from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the National Park Service.
NDVI WORKFLOW
In ENVI, we used the spectral subset tool to extract bands 4 and 5, then used the NDVI tool to estimate the condition of the vegetation. The lower the NDVI, the less productive the vegetation is (and the more likely it would be to catch on fire).
3D SURFACE VIEW WORKFLOW
The '3D SurfaceView' tool in ENVI allowed us to visualize the topography of Topanga Canyon. To use this tool, we simply needed a satellite image and a digital elevation model (DEM). Then, using the tool, we could alter the surface controls to increase the vertical exaggeration to make the model look more drastic.
