VI International Conference on Forest Fire Research D. X. Viegas (Ed.), 2010 Aerial Forest Monitoring: A Portuguese decision support system to develop firefight strategies Adriano Germano Portuguese Aeronautic Federation, Rua Almeida Garrett 293 5ºA, Vila do Conde, adriano.germano@giff.pt António Salgueiro Gestão Integrada de Fogos Florestais SA, Rua Almeida Garrett 293 5ºA, Vila do Conde, antonio.salgueiro@giff.pt Nuno Guiomar Institute of Mediterranean Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Herdade da Mitra, University of Évora, nunogui@uevora.pt Rui Almeida Portuguese Forest Authority, Avenida João Crisóstomo 26-28, Lisboa, rui.almeida@afn.min-agricultura.pt Abstract The Portuguese Forest Authority (AFN) and the Portuguese Aeronautic Federation (FPA) established since 2006 protocols that enable the provision of a range of means for the Aerial Forest Monitoring (MAF). Due to the overlap of the highest class of forest fire danger to areas of zero visibility from the stations included in the National Lookout Towers were established nine routes of reference for this purpose, but these can be changed according to operational needs. The main objectives of the MAF consist in aerial monitoring active and post suppression wildfires, particularly in the detection of reignitions. The first objective focuses on collecting relevant information in the context of firefight system which, in the first instance, is useful to evaluate the potential fire spread, and the identification of suppression opportunities, paths, fuelbreaks and other infrastructures. This information is provided to the Portuguese Civil Protection Authority (ANPC) structure and also to the teams of Group of Analysis and Use of Fire (GAUF). Once identified the need, the aircraft can assess and monitor potential reignition after extinction. This may occur in areas of difficult access and poor visibility from the ground, or even to manage large perimeters of the burnt area. The obtained data through the use of Reporting and Automatic Location Units (URLA) installed on the aircraft, allowing real-time reporting and an automatic mode: • A wildfire location (precise location vertical of a forest fire or an active outbreak of fire, sending an SMS alert to the different structures involved); • The fire perimeter (quick survey of the vertices of the active fire); • The burnt area perimeter (quick survey of the vertices of the burnt area); • Photographic registration. This information is automatically available on a website adapted for this purpose. With this communication the authors intend to highlight the results obtained by this program and its evolution over time, and to present the methodology description and the main results obtained between the years from 2007 to 2009. Nor less important is to demonstrate the usefulness of these data in developing strategies for forest fire management, when integrated with helping geographical information, either through SIG desktop, or through other platforms available on the Internet. Keywords: Aerial forest monitoring, automatic location and reporting, forest fires, spatial data acquisition