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Data

Burnt Area and Approximate Day of Burn - MODIS, Australian algorithm, Australian coverage 

Ver: 1.0
Status of Data: completed
Update Frequency: asNeeded
Security Classification: unclassified
Record Last Modified: 2025-12-02
Viewed 907 times
Accessed 112 times
Dataset Created: 2018-09-30
Dataset Published: 2022-02-21
Data can be accessed from the following links:
HTTPPoint-of-truth metadata URLHTTPData filesHTTPro-crate-metadata.json
How to cite this collection:
Maier, S. (2022). Burnt Area and Approximate Day of Burn - MODIS, Australian algorithm, Australian coverage. Version 1.0. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/5e262fd7-261f-4c5d-81e7-fff2c6d54d32 
This product provides locations of areas affected by fire including the approximate day of burning. Inputs are daily day time observations from MODIS sensors on Terra and Aqua. Observations are atmospherically corrected and the resulting time series is investigated for sudden changes in reflectance, persistent over multiple days. Variations in observation and illumination geometry are taken into account through application of a kernel driven Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) model. 
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. 
Purpose
The product consists of monthly rasters of the approximate julian day of burning within the month. Seasonality and bioregional effects are taken into account in the analysis of daily reflectance changes in the satellite data (Maier, 2010). The data can be used to estimate both area of burns (contiguous burn pixels) and time of burns (approximate day a pixel burns). Annual and all-data composites of the monthly files are also provided. 
Lineage
The algorithm uses daily MODIS Terra and Aqua day time observations. Observations are atmospherically corrected and the resulting time series is investigated for sudden changes in reflectance, persistent over multiple days. Variations in observation and illumination geometry are taken into account through application of a kernel driven BRDF model. 
Method DocumentationData not provided.
Procedure StepsData not provided.
Australia
Temporal Coverage
From 2002-08-01 to 2017-02-28 
Spatial Resolution

Data not provided.

Vertical Extent

Data not provided.

Data Quality Assessment Scope
This product is validated to Stage 2. Product accuracy is estimated over a significant set of locations and time periods by comparison with reference in situ or other suitable reference data. Spatial and temporal consistency of the product and with similar products has been evaluated over representative locations and time periods (Maier, 2010). 
Data Quality Report
Data not provided. 
Data Quality Assessment Outcome
Northern Australia: overall accuracy 95.2%, commission error 3.7%, omission error 6.2%. Rainfall events in sparsely vegetated areas cause commission errors. Low intensity, patchy understorey fires under dense canopies are not detected. Small fires affecting a small fraction of a sensor pixel (250 m x 250 m) are not detected. 
ANZSRC - FOR
Climate change impacts and adaptation
GCMD Sciences
BIOSPHERE - FIRE DYNAMICS
BIOSPHERE - FIRE ECOLOGY
BIOSPHERE - FIRE OCCURRENCE
CLIMATE INDICATORS - FIRE HISTORY
HUMAN DIMENSIONS - BURNED AREA
Horizontal Resolution
250 meters - < 500 meters
Instruments
MODIS
Parameters
fire events
Platforms
Aqua
Terra
Temporal Resolution
Daily - < Weekly
Topic
imageryBaseMapsEarthCover
Author
Maier, Stefan
Contact Point
Maier, Stefan
Publisher
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Maier, S.W. (2010) Changes in surface reflectance from wildfires on the Australian continent measured by MODIS. International Journal of Remote Sensing 31, 3161-3176.
Maier, S.W. and Russell-Smith, J. (2012) Measuring and Monitoring of Contemporary Fire Regimes in Australia using Satellite Remote Sensing. In: Flammable Australia: Fire Regimes, Biodiversity and Ecosystems in a Changing World. CSIRO Publishing
Supplemental Information
Pixel value indicates the number of days since reference date 1970-01-01 Datasets are monthly, annual and composited from 2002. 
Resource Specific Usage
Data not provided. 
Environment Description
Data not provided. 
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