Burned Area Reflectance Classification Thematic Burn Severity Areas (ver. 8.0, August 2024)
Dates
Publication Date
2022-09-06
Time Period
2001
Info Date
2024
Last Revision
2024-08-21
Citation
U.S. Geological Survey, USDA Forest Service, and Nelson, K., 2022, Burn Severity Portal, a clearing house of fire severity and extent information (ver. 8.0, August 2024): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P97UMU6K.
Summary
These data products are preliminary burn severity assessments derived from data obtained from suitable imagery (including Landsat TM, Landsat ETM+, Landsat OLI, Sentinel 2A, and Sentinel 2B). The pre-fire and post-fire subsets included were used to create a differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) image. The dNBR image attempts to portray the variation of burn severity within a fire. The severity ratings are influenced by the effects to the canopy. The severity rating is based upon a composite of the severity to the understory (grass, shrub layers), midstory trees and overstory trees. Because there is often a strong correlation between canopy consumption and soil effects, this algorithm works in many cases for Burned Area Emergency [...]
Summary
These data products are preliminary burn severity assessments derived from data obtained from suitable imagery (including Landsat TM, Landsat ETM+, Landsat OLI, Sentinel 2A, and Sentinel 2B). The pre-fire and post-fire subsets included were used to create a differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) image. The dNBR image attempts to portray the variation of burn severity within a fire. The severity ratings are influenced by the effects to the canopy. The severity rating is based upon a composite of the severity to the understory (grass, shrub layers), midstory trees and overstory trees. Because there is often a strong correlation between canopy consumption and soil effects, this algorithm works in many cases for Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams whose objective is a soil burn severity assessment. It is not, however, appropriate in all ecosystems or fires. It is expected that BAER teams will adjust the thresholds to match field observations to produce a soil burn severity. Fires omitted from this mapped inventory are those where suitable satellite imagery was not available or fires which were not discernable from available imagery.
