Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) is a multi-year project designed to consistently mpa the burn severity and perimeters of fires across all lands of the United States for the period spanning 1984 through 2010. The data generated by MTBS will be used to identify national trends in burn severity, providing information necessary to monitor the effectiveness and effects of the National Fire Plan and Healthy Forests Restoration Act. MTBS is sponsored by the Wildlland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC), a multi-agency oversight group responsible for implementing and coordinating the National Fire Plan and Federal Wildland Fire Management Policies. The project will be conducted through a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey National Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) and the USDA Forest Service Remost Sensing Applications Center (RSAC).
MTBS is divided into zonal and temporal analysis phases and includes a technical transfer component. See the schedule map to view analysis schedules by mapping zone. Current fires, beginning with 2004, will be mapped for the entire United States on an annual basis. Historical fires (1984-2003) will be mapped according to the schedule.
MTBS is based on image processing and analysis methods currently utilized by the USGS and USFS for existing post-fire burn severity mapping efforts. The USGS Landsat Thematic Mapper image archive will provide a consistent and continuous source of 30 meter resolution data going back to 1984 for mapping burn severity of all fires greater than 1000 acres in the west and 500 acres in the east
