Assessing the Environmental Impacts of the Capilla Del Monte Wildfire in Punilla Valley of Argentina Using Landsat-9 and Sentinel-5P

Abstract

Wildfires are a growing environmental concern due to rapid population growth, urbanization, and human activities, which contribute to climate change, causing wildfires that damage ecosystems and the environment. Wildfires destroy the vegetation cover, habitat of habitants and cause soil deterioration by changing the soil structure. In addition, toxic gases released into the atmosphere during fires threaten the lives of habitants. The effects of the forest fire that occurred on 19th September 2024 around Capilla del Monte in the Punilla Valley were analyzed using spectral indices. Landsat-9 data were used to detect changes in vegetation cover, land surface temperature (LST), and soil moisture by comparing the pre- and post-fire satellite images, while Sentinel-5P TROPOMI satellite data were used to extract the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) gases. Overall accuracy of the LST was found using a reference data MODIS daily LST, and a positive correlation (r = 0.94) found between the two datasets. In addition, the burned areas were estimated using the dNBR index as well as random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM) classification methods. The results showed that vegetation cover increased by 35%, the average soil moisture decreased by approximately 16%, and the average LST increased by 9.5% from October 2023 to November 2024 in the region. The burned area was estimated as 387.9 km2 using dNBR, while it was 392.4 km2 by RF and 389.5 km2 by SVM in the study area. The study found high NO2 and CO concentrations after the Punilla Valley fire, threatening inhabitants.