Burn Severity Mapping and Satellite Imagery:
Information Products of the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity Project

The Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) is an effort of the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) and USDA-FS Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC) to map and assess the burn severity for all fires since 1984 greater than 500 acres in the east, and 1000 acres in the west. The number of historical fires from this period combined with current fires occurring during the course of the project will exceed 9000.

The MTBS project will generate burn severity data using Landsat imagery, produce maps, and reports. Additionally, satellite imagery will provide a baseline from which to monitor the recovery and health of fire-affected landscapes over time. Spatial and tabular data quantifying burn severity will augment existing information used to estimate risk associated with a range of current and future resource threats. The burn severity information and the satellite imagery are available free to users via the Internet.