The global burned area product from Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite has been added to the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). This NASA standard science product (VNP64A1) provides continuity to the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-generated NASA standard science burned area product (MCD64A1) and uses an adaptation of the same algorithm used to generate MCD64A1 Collection 6.1.
While the native spatial resolution of the VIIRS input bands is coarser than those of MODIS, VNP64A1 is produced at the same 500 m resolution, and on the same sinusoidal grid as MCD64A1. The VIIRS product is also compiled and distributed as a monthly product.
Burned areas are characterized by deposits of charcoal and ash, removal of vegetation, and alteration of the vegetation structure. The algorithms used to generate both MCD64A1 and VNP64A1 take advantage of these spectral, temporal, and structural changes by identifying rapid changes in a time series of the daily surface reflectance imagery.
As with the MODIS burned area product, the VIIRS burned area product requires a continuous calendar month of daily surface reflectance imagery and active fire detection data plus active fire detection data for the 10 days prior and after the target month to identify areas burned. This requirement and other factors result in a 5-month lag before the product is available. While the MODIS product is available from November 2000 onwards, following the launch of the Terra satellite which carries the MODIS instrument in late 1999, the VIIRS product is available from March 2012, following the launch of the Suomi NPP satellite in October 2011.
The product is accessible through the ADVANCED MODE and the BURNED AREA mode within the FIRMS fire map. The VIIRS burned area product uses the updated burned area interface, described in this blog, so users can simultaneously display and compare individual monthly burned area products.
- Figure 1 shows the monthly burned area for the MODIS and VIIRS products for 2024. Users can also view the monthly products aggregated into annual datasets for one to three user-selected years. View Figure 1 imagery in FIRMS.
- Figure 2 shows the annual burned area for the MODIS and VIIRS products for 2023 for areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada. View Figure 2 imagery in FIRMS.
- Figure 3 provides a larger scale example comparing the MODIS and VIIRS burned area products in the context of reflectance imagery.
- Figure 4 shows the annual burned area for parts of the Northwest Territories and Northern Saskatchewan based on the VIIRS product for 2023 and 2014. View Figure 4 imagery in FIRMS.
The default opacity setting for each layer is 70% so that users can more easily identify areas that reburned. A combined burned area product based on observations from VIIRS aboard both Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 is planned.
