Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.

Burnt area (BA) mapping is crucial for assessing wildfire impact, guiding restoration efforts, and improving fire management strategies. Accurate BA data helps estimate carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, and land surface properties post-fire changes. In this study, we designed and evaluated two de...

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Main Authors: Sai Balakavi, Vineet Vadrevu, Kristofer Lasko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327125
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author Sai Balakavi
Vineet Vadrevu
Kristofer Lasko
author_facet Sai Balakavi
Vineet Vadrevu
Kristofer Lasko
author_sort Sai Balakavi
collection DOAJ
description Burnt area (BA) mapping is crucial for assessing wildfire impact, guiding restoration efforts, and improving fire management strategies. Accurate BA data helps estimate carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, and land surface properties post-fire changes. In this study, we designed and evaluated two deep learning-based architectures, a Custom UNET and a novel UNET-Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), for burnt area classification using PlanetScope data over Bandipur, India. Both models demonstrated high accuracy in classifying burnt and unburnt areas. Performance metrics, including Precision, Recall, F1-Score, Accuracy, Mean Intersection over Union (IoU), and Dice Coefficient, revealed that the UNET-GRU hybrid consistently outperformed the Custom UNET, particularly in Recall and spatial overlap metrics. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve indicated excellent classification performance for both models, with the UNET-GRU achieving a higher AUC (0.98) compared to the Custom UNET (0.96). These findings highlight the UNET-GRU's enhanced capacity to handle finer distinctions and capture spatial and contextual features, making it a robust choice for burnt area classification in the study area. While both models avoided overfitting and maintained generalizability, integrating GRU into the UNET architecture proved particularly effective for precise classification and spatial accuracy. Our results highlight the potential of the novel UNET-GRU for burnt area mapping using very high-resolution data.
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spelling doaj-art-85ec11f31e784d1ba633a574a0042dea2025-08-20T03:12:34ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01207e032712510.1371/journal.pone.0327125Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.Sai BalakaviVineet VadrevuKristofer LaskoBurnt area (BA) mapping is crucial for assessing wildfire impact, guiding restoration efforts, and improving fire management strategies. Accurate BA data helps estimate carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, and land surface properties post-fire changes. In this study, we designed and evaluated two deep learning-based architectures, a Custom UNET and a novel UNET-Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), for burnt area classification using PlanetScope data over Bandipur, India. Both models demonstrated high accuracy in classifying burnt and unburnt areas. Performance metrics, including Precision, Recall, F1-Score, Accuracy, Mean Intersection over Union (IoU), and Dice Coefficient, revealed that the UNET-GRU hybrid consistently outperformed the Custom UNET, particularly in Recall and spatial overlap metrics. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve indicated excellent classification performance for both models, with the UNET-GRU achieving a higher AUC (0.98) compared to the Custom UNET (0.96). These findings highlight the UNET-GRU's enhanced capacity to handle finer distinctions and capture spatial and contextual features, making it a robust choice for burnt area classification in the study area. While both models avoided overfitting and maintained generalizability, integrating GRU into the UNET architecture proved particularly effective for precise classification and spatial accuracy. Our results highlight the potential of the novel UNET-GRU for burnt area mapping using very high-resolution data.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327125
spellingShingle Sai Balakavi
Vineet Vadrevu
Kristofer Lasko
Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.
PLoS ONE
title Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.
title_full Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.
title_fullStr Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.
title_full_unstemmed Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.
title_short Mapping burnt areas using very high-resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms - a case study in Bandipur, India.
title_sort mapping burnt areas using very high resolution imagery and deep learning algorithms a case study in bandipur india
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327125
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AT kristoferlasko mappingburntareasusingveryhighresolutionimageryanddeeplearningalgorithmsacasestudyinbandipurindia