These datasets are statewide maps of fire scars (burnt areas) derived from all available Landsat imagery across Queensland. Fire scars were automatically detected and mapped using dense time series of Landsat imagery acquired from 1987 to 2016. The datasets are available as both annual and monthly products, allowing for detailed and flexible monitoring of fire activity over time. On average, more than 80% of fire scars captured in Landsat imagery have been correctly mapped, with less than a 30% false fire rate. These error rates are significantly reduced in the edited 2013-2016 fire scar data sets, although this has not been quantified. Data for the period 2013–2016 has been refined and manually edited from the automated outputs to enhance accuracy and reliability. For the 2016 annual fire scar composite, the manual editing stage incorporated Landsat and Sentinel 2A imagery (resampled to match Landsat spatial resolution), allowing for increased cloud-free ground observations, and an associated reduction in the number of missed fires (not quantified). Sentinel 2A images were primarily used to map fire scars that were otherwise undetectable in the Landsat sequence due to cloud cover/Landsat revisit time. Additionally, Landsat-7 SLC-Off imagery (affected by striping) was excluded from the 2016 annual composite. It is expected that these modifications should result in improved mapping accuracy for the 2016 period.
From 2017, a new fire scar detection algorithm has been developed using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery:
https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/7b6d2b84-cbf3-46e8-aa8c-c49352f9ffd5 Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI images were acquired from United States Geologic Survey.
Copernicus Sentinel 2 data from the European Union and European Space Agency Copernicus Program.
Purpose
Characterising historic patterns of burning and changing fire regimes over time (spatial extent, timing, patchiness, frequency and intensity) is important for improving our understanding and management of fire, climate, land-use and vegetation interactions. These products may assist the development of appropriate fire management practices and benefit a range of conservation and resource management objectives, as well as ongoing scientific research.
