Abstract
The distribution of surface temperature after wildfires is important for soil reclamation, germination conditions, and sustainability of the burned site condition. This study was conducted to evaluate the temperature on the forest floor, bare soil, and vegetation after clear-cutting using a handle thermal imaging camera and laser thermometer in Mediterranean Pinus brutia forest, Hatay-Samandagi district, Turkey. Furthermore, the study aimed at determining relations among calculated temperature with some morphometric features; altitude, slope, Compound Topographic Index (CTI), and some spectral indices; Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), Bare Soil Index (BSI), Difference Normalized Burn Ratio (DNBR) using Sentinel 2A and AlosPalsar Satellite Images in the study area. In total, 80 thermal temperatures were measured. The temperature data obtained with the thermal camera were validated by direct temperature measurement using a laser temperature measuring instrument. The results showed that there was a significant (average RMSE = 1.96) high positive correlation (average R-2 = 0.91) between hand-held thermal camera and laser temperature measurement. The highest correlation was found between CTI and FFT (R-2 = 0.62) and Slope and FFT (R-2 = 0.40). Significant (p < 0.01) positive correlation were found between ground temperature and post_NDVI (R-2 = 0.42), NDMI and FFT (R-2 = 0.37). Significant (p < 0.01) negative correlation were found between FFT and DNBR (R-2 = 0.42), FFT and BSI (R-2 = 0.45). Although the forest floor has the potential to increase the severity of the fire, it was concluded that the forest floor and living vegetation optimize the distribution of soil surface temperature in the burned area.