[01] Nataliya Stankova, Department of Aerospace Information, Space Research and Technology Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. [02] Roumen Nedkov, Department of Aerospace Information, Space Research and Technology Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.

The aim of this study is to monitor the recovery process after fire on the basis of satellite data. The test area is located in the south-east part of Bulgaria, Haskovo region, where a significant fire took place in the summer of 2007. The burnt area was determined by means of Terra MODIS imagery. The affected area and the recovery processes of the different vegetation communities were examined for the period 2007 – 2014. To achieve this goal, NDVI and PVI were generated in the middle of June once every year during the examined period, using MODIS on-board Terra and Aqua satellites. To assess the dynamics of the different vegetation communities, the burnt area was divided to several classes - broad-leaved forests, coniferous forests, mixed forests, pastures, transitional woodlands and shrubs. NDVI values for each class were generated to assess and monitor the post-fire vegetation status of the different communities for the whole study period. Climate data were also acquired and analyzed in GIS for that period, in order to understand the dynamics of the vegetation status and the rates of the recovery process after the disaster.

Fire, Remote Sensing, Post-Fire Regeneration, NDVI, PVI, GIS

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