It is proposed that LiDAR and CASI/ATM will be used to create three-dimensional models of canopy vertical structure, height, density and gaps in representative vegetation communities that were burned in the western Algarve, Portugal in August 2003. The objectives are two-fold: a shorter term ecological aim to develop an understanding of the area's vegetation regeneration in terms of biomass recovery and vegetation structure, and a longer-term aim to use the results of this to develop and validate individual-based models of vegetation recovery with the eventual modelling of future fire potential. Detailed pre-fire vegetation survey data already exist for the field sites, which therefore provide a baseline from which vegetation regeneration can be analysed. The standard vegetation bandset of CASI will enable examination of the vigour of the vegetation response. Together with the LiDAR data, this will provide a basis for 'scaling up' of the data by integration with enhanced thematic mapper satellite imagery available from pre-fire and post-fire periods for the survey area and elsewhere in southern Portugal.