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Description

The MCD64A1 Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MCD64A1 Version 6.1 data product.

The Terra and Aqua combined MCD64A1 Version 6 Burned Area data product is a monthly, global gridded 500 meter (m) product containing per-pixel burned-area and quality information. The MCD64A1 burned-area mapping approach employs 500 m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Surface Reflectance imagery coupled with 1 kilometer (km) MODIS active fire observations. The algorithm uses a burn sensitive Vegetation Index (VI) to create dynamic thresholds that are applied to the composite data. The VI is derived from MODIS shortwave infrared atmospherically corrected surface reflectance bands 5 and 7 with a measure of temporal texture. The algorithm identifies the date of burn for the 500 m grid cells within each individual MODIS tile. The date is encoded in a single data layer as the ordinal day of the calendar year on which the burn occurred with values assigned to unburned land pixels and additional special values reserved for missing data and water grid cells.

The data layers provided in the MCD64A1 product include Burn Date, Burn Data Uncertainty, Quality Assurance, along with First Day and Last Day of reliable change detection of the year.

Known Issues

  • Known issues are described on the MODIS Land Quality Assessment website and in Section 8 of the User Guide which covers Cropland Burning, the August 2000 and June 2001 Data Outages, and the August 2020 Aqua Outage.

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6 burned area data products: (1) The product is now generated using an improved version of the MCD64 burned area mapping algorithm (Giglio et al., 2009), i.e., MCD64A1 will be adopted as the standard MODIS burned area product for Collection 6. The MCD45A1 product will not be generated beyond Collection 5.1, (2) The product is generated using Version 6 surface reflectance and active fire input data, (3) General improvement (reduced omission error) in burned area detection, including significantly better detection of small burns, (4) Modest reduction in burn-date temporal uncertainty, (5) Significant reduction in the occurrence of unclassified grid cells due to algorithm changes and refinements in the upstream Version 6 input data, (6) Product coverage expanded from 219 to 268 MODIS tiles, and (7) Expanded per-pixel Quality Assurance (QA) product layer.

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra ,
Aqua
Instruments
MODIS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
500 Meters x 500 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2000-11-01 to 2022-12-31
Temporal Resolution
1 Month
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
MODIS Adaptive Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/MODAPS)
Concept ID
C2763297163-LPCLOUD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Number of Files/Granules
0
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Fire Ecology ,
Biomass Burning ,
Wildfires ,
Fire Occurrence

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Giglio, L., Justice, C., Boschetti, L., & Roy, D. (2015). MCD64A1 MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.006 Date Accessed: 2026-05-22

File Naming Convention

MCD64A1.A2002244.h11v12.006.2017013095459.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD64A1) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002244), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h11v12), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2017013095459), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Spatiotemporal changes in forest loss and its linkage to burned areas in China Wu, Zhiwei, Yan, Saijia, He, Lei, Shan, Yanlong Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Temporal and source assessments of organic and elemental carbon at sites in the northern South African interior Maritz, Petra, Beukes, Johan P., van Zyl, Pieter G., Liousse, Catherine, Gardrat, Eric, Ramandh, Avishkar, Mkhatshwa, Gabisile V. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Spatial and temporal distribution of biomass open burning emissions in the greater mekong subregion Junpen, Agapol, Roemmontri, Jirataya, Boonman, Athipthep, Cheewaphongphan, Penwadee, Thao, Pham Thi Bich, Garivait, Savitri Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Spatial and Temporal Trends of Burnt Area in Angola: Implications for Catarino, Silvia, Romeiras, Maria Manuel, Figueira, Rui, Aubard, Valentine, Silva, Joao M. N., Pereira, Jose M. C. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Sentinel-1 observation frequency significantly increases burnt area Carreiras, Joao M B, Quegan, Shaun, Tansey, Kevin, Page, Susan Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Snow Albedo Reduction in Central Andes by Atmospheric Aerosols: Case Study on the Tunuyan Basin (Argentina) Puliafito, S. E., Ortiz, T. Bolano, Pascual, R., Lopez-Norena, A., Berna, L. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
The use of remote sensing techniques by Modis (MCD45A1) images using to identify and evaluate burned areas in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte - MG, Brazil Fernandes, Luiza Cintra, Nero, Marcelo Antonio, Temba, Plinio da Costa, Elmiro, Marcos Antonio Timbo Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Uncovering Dryland Woody Dynamics Using Optical, Microwave, and Field Bernardino, Paulo N., Brandt, Martin, De Keersmaecker, Wanda, Horion, Stephanie, Fensholt, Rasmus, Storms, Ilie, Wigneron, Jean-Pierre, Verbesselt, Jan, Somers, Ben Population Size, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Tracing devastating fires in Portugal to a snow archive in the Swiss Osmont, Dimitri, Brugger, Sandra, Gilgen, Anina, Weber, Helga, Sigl, Michael, Modini, Robin L., Schworer, Christoph, Tinner, Willy, Wunderle, Stefan, Schwikowski, Margit Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Postfire Effects in Siberian Larch Stands on Multispectral Satellite Data Shvetsov, E. G., Ponomarev, E. I. Reflectance, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Persistent fire foci in all biomes undermine the Paris Agreement in Brazil da Silva Junior, Carlos Antonio, Teodoro, Paulo Eduardo, Delgado, Rafael Coll, Teodoro, Larissa Pereira Ribeiro, Lima, Mendelson, de Andrea Pantaleao, Ariane, Baio, Fabio Henrique Rojo, de Azevedo, Gileno Brito, de Oliveira Sousa Azevedo, Glauce Tais, Capristo-Silva, Guilherme Fernando, Arvor, Damien, Facco, Cassiele Uliana Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Land Surface Temperature, Surface Thermal Properties, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Performance Analysis of Deep Convolutional Autoencoders with Different de Bem, Pablo Pozzobon, de Carvalho Junior, Osmar Abilio, de Carvalho, Osmar Luiz Ferreira, Gomes, Roberto Arnaldo Trancoso, Fontes Guimaraes, Renato Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Observed changes in fire patterns and possible drivers over Central Africa Jiang, Yan, Zhou, Liming, Raghavendra, Ajay Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Total Surface Precipitation Rate
Predictive Modeling of Wildfire Occurrence and Damage in a Tropical Kouassi, Jean-Luc, Wandan, Narcisse, Mbow, Cheikh Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Recent wildfires in Central ChileDetecting links between burned areas and population exposure in the wildland urban interface Sarricolea, Pablo, Serrano-Notivoli, Roberto, Fuentealba, Magdalena, Hernandez-Mora, Marina, de la Barrera, Francisco, Smith, Pamela, Meseguer-Ruiz, Oliver Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Detection rates and biases of fire observations from MODIS and agency reports in the conterminous United States Fusco, Emily J., Finn, John T., Abatzoglou, John T., Balch, Jennifer K., Dadashi, Sepideh, Bradley, Bethany A. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Evaluating the social and environmental factors behind the 2015 extreme fire event in Sumatra, Indonesia Sze, Jocelyne Shimin, Jefferson, Lee, Janice Ser Huay Infrastructure, Food Security, Conservation, Environmental Health Factors, Urbanization/Urban Sprawl, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Estimation of CO2 emissions from wildfires using OCO-2 data Guo, Meng, Li, Jing, Wen, Lixiang, Huang, Shubo Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Fire dynamics in extreme climatic events in western amazon da Silva Junior, Luiz Augusto Siciliano, Delgado, Rafael Coll, Pereira, Marcos Gervasio, Teodoro, Paulo Eduardo, da Silva Junior, Carlos Antonio Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Fire on the water towersMapping burn scars on mount Kenya using satellite data to reconstruct recent fire history Henry, Mary C., Maingi, John K., McCarty, Jessica Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
How well do global burned area products represent fire patterns in the Brazilian Savannas biome? An accuracy assessment of the MCD64 collections Rodrigues, Julia A., Libonati, Renata, Pereira, Allan A., Nogueira, Joana M.P., Santos, Filippe L.M., Peres, Leonardo F., Santa Rosa, Ananda, Schroeder, Wilfrid, Pereira, Jose M.C., Giglio, Louis, Trigo, Isabel F., Setzer, Alberto W. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Improved estimates of forest cover and loss in the Brazilian Amazon in 20002017 Qin, Yuanwei, Xiao, Xiangming, Dong, Jinwei, Zhang, Yao, Wu, Xiaocui, Shimabukuro, Yosio, Arai, Egidio, Biradar, Chandrashekhar, Wang, Jie, Zou, Zhenhua, Liu, Fang, Shi, Zheng, Doughty, Russell, Moore, Berrien Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Incentivizing compliance: Evaluating the effectiveness of targeted village incentives for reducing burning in Indonesia Watts, John D., Tacconi, Luca, Hapsari, Nindita, Irawan, Silvia, Sloan, Sean, Widiastomo, Triyoga Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
A comparison of burned area time series in the Alaskan Boreal forests from different remote sensing products Moreno-Ruiz, Jose A., Garcia-Lazaro, Jose R., Arbelo, Manuel, Riano, David Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Effects of live fuel moisture content on wildfire occurrence in fire-prone regions over Southwest China Luo, Kaiwei, Quan, Xingwen, He, Binbin, Yebra, Marta Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Albedo
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