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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: 2026-05-23

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
Evaluation and comparison of Sentinel-2 MSI, Landsat 8 OLI, and EFFIS data for forest fires mapping. Illustrations from the summer 2017 fires in Tunisia Achour, Hammadi, Toujani, Ahmed, Trabelsi, Hichem, Jaouadi, Wahbi Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Evaluating accuracy of four MODIS-derived burned area products for tropical peatland and non-peatland fires Vetrita, Yenni, Cochrane, Mark A, Suwarsono, Priyatna, Muhammad, Sukowati, Kusumaning A D, Khomarudin, Muhammad R Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Forest Fire Risk Prediction from Satellite Data with Convolutional Santopaolo, Alessandro, Saif, Syed Saad, Pietrabissa, Antonio, Giuseppi, Alessandro Land Surface Temperature, Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Total Surface Precipitation Rate, Emissivity, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Burned Area, Terrain Elevation, RADAR IMAGERY, Topographical Relief Maps
Fire regimes, fire experiments and alternative stable states in mesic savannas Veenendaal, Elmar M., TorelloRaventos, Mireia, Miranda, Heloisa S., Sato, Naomi M., Janssen, Thomas A. J., van Langevelde, Frank, Lloyd, Jon Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Fire-derived phosphorus fertilization of African tropical forests Bauters, Marijn, Drake, Travis W., Wagner, Sasha, Baumgartner, Simon, Makelele, Isaac A., Bode, Samuel, Verheyen, Kris, Verbeeck, Hans, Ewango, Corneille, Cizungu, Landry, Van Oost, Kristof, Boeckx, Pascal Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Aerosols, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Angstrom Exponent, Aerosol Particle Properties, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Organic Particles, Sulfate Particles, Sulfur Oxides, Sulfur Compounds, Sulfate, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Particulate Matter, Dimethyl Sulfide, Black Carbon, Sea Salt, PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 2.5), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 1.0), PARTICULATE MATTER (PM 10)
Fire-induced loss of the world's most biodiverse forests in Latin America Armenteras, Dolors, Davalos, Liliana M., Barreto, Joan S., Miranda, Alejandro, Hernandez-Moreno, Angela, Zamorano-Elgueta, Carlos, Gonzalez-Delgado, Tania M., Meza-Elizalde, Maria C., Retana, Javier Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Fires dynamics in the Pantanal: Impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change Marques, Juliana Fazolo, Alves, Maria Bevilacqua, Silveira, Carolina Ferrari, Amaral e Silva, Arthur, Silva, Thiago Abrantes, dos Santos, Vitor Juste, Calijuri, Maria Lucia Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Fire regime impacts on postfire diurnal land surface temperature change over North American boreal forest Zhao, Jie, Wang, Liang, Hou, Xin, Li, Guangyao, Tian, Qi, Chan, Eme, Ciais, Philippe, Yu, Qiang, Yue, Chao Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Albedo, Anisotropy, Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature, Burned Area
Identifying economically relevant forest types from global satellite data Filewod, Ben, Kant, Shashi Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Incorporating Sentinel-1 SAR imagery with the MODIS MCD64A1 burned area product to improve burn date estimates and reduce burn date uncertainty in wildland fire mapping Lasko, Kristofer Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
High-resolution and multi-year estimation of emissions from open biomass burning in Northeast China during 20012017 Shi, Yusheng, Gong, Shiyao, Zang, Shuying, Zhao, Yue, Wang, Wen, Lv, Zhenghan, Matsunaga, Tsuneo, Yamaguchi, Yasushi, Bai, Yanbing Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Greening vs browning? Surface water cover mediates how tundra and boreal Li, Jing, Holmgren, Milena, Xu, Chi Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Reflectance, Total Surface Water
Integrating remotely sensed fuel variables into wildfire danger assessment for China Quan, Xingwen, Xie, Qian, He, Binbin, Luo, Kaiwei, Liu, Xiangzhuo Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
A burned area mapping method for the FY-3D MERSI based on the single-temporal L1 data and multi-temporal daily active fire products Shan, Tianchan, Zheng, Wei, Chen, Jie, Tang, Shihao Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
A framework for multi-dimensional assessment of wildfire disturbance severity from remotely sensed ecosystem functioning attributes Marcos, Bruno, Goncalves, Joao, Alcaraz-Segura, Domingo, Cunha, Mario, Honrado, Joao P. Reflectance, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
A comprehensive characterization of MODIS daily burned area mapping accuracy across fire sizes in tropical savannas Campagnolo, M.L., Libonati, R., Rodrigues, J.A., Pereira, J.M.C. Reflectance, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Burned Area, Fire Dynamics, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Direct radiative forcing of biomass burning aerosols from the extensive Australian wildfires in 2019-2020 Chang, Dong Yeong, Yoon, Jongmin, Lelieveld, Johannes, Park, Seon Ki, Yum, Seong Soo, Kim, Jhoon, Jeong, Sujong Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Albedo, Anisotropy, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Did covid-19 lockdown restrictions have an impact on biomass burning emissions in sub-saharan africa? Kganyago, Mahlatse, Shikwambana, Lerato Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Detecting vulnerability of humid tropical forests to multiple stressors Saatchi, Sassan, Longo, Marcos, Xu, Liang, Yang, Yan, Abe, Hitofumi, Andre, Michel, Aukema, Juliann E., Carvalhais, Nuno, Cadillo-Quiroz, Hinsby, Cerbu, Gillian Ann, Chernela, Janet M., Covey, Kristofer, Sanchez-Clavijo, Lina Maria, Cubillos, Isai V., Davies, Stuart J., De Sy, Veronique, De Vleeschouwer, Francois, Duque, Alvaro, Sybille Durieux, Alice Marie, De Avila Fernandes, Katia, Fernandez, Luis E., Gammino, Victoria, Garrity, Dennis P., Gibbs, David A., Gibbon, Lucy, Gowae, Gae Yansom, Hansen, Matthew, Lee Harris, Nancy, Healey, Sean P., Hilton, Robert G., Johnson, Christine May, Kankeu, Richard Sufo, Laporte-Goetz, Nadine Therese, Lee, Hyongki, Lovejoy, Thomas, Lowman, Margaret, Lumbuenamo, Raymond, Malhi, Yadvinder, Albert Martinez, Jean-Michel M., Nobre, Carlos, Pellegrini, Adam, Radachowsky, Jeremy, Roman, Francisco, Russell, Diane, Sheil, Douglas, Smith, Thomas B., Spencer, Robert G.M., Stolle, Fred, Tata, Hesti Lestari, Torres, Dennis del Castillo, Tshimanga, Raphael Muamba, Vargas, Rodrigo, Venter, Michelle, West, Joshua, Widayati, Atiek, Wilson, Sylvia N., Brumby, Steven, Elmore, Aurora C. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Drought-driven wildfire impacts on structure and dynamics in a wet Central Amazonian forest Pontes-Lopes, Aline, Silva, Camila V. J., Barlow, Jos, Rincon, Lorena M., Campanharo, Wesley A., Nunes, Cassio A., de Almeida, Catherine T., Silva Junior, Celso H. L., Cassol, Henrique L. G., Dalagnol, Ricardo, Stark, Scott C., Graca, Paulo M. L. A., Aragao, Luiz E. O. C. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Drivers of recent forest cover change in southern South America are linked to climate and CO2 Ogunkoya, Ayodele, Kaplan, Jed, Whitlock, Cathy, Nanavati, William, Roberts, David W., Poulter, Benjamin Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Droughts and heatwaves in the Western MediterraneanImpact on vegetation and wildfires using the coupled WRF-ORCHIDEE regional model (RegIPSL) Guion, Antoine, Turquety, Solene, Polcher, Jan, Pennel, Romain, Bastin, Sophie, Arsouze, Thomas Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Burned Area, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Ecosystem functioning influences species fitness at upper trophic levels Regos, Adrian, Tapia, Luis, Arenas-Castro, Salvador, Gil-Carrera, Alberto, Dominguez, Jesus Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Albedo, Anisotropy
Environmental and political implications of underestimated cropland burning in Ukraine Hall, Joanne V, Zibtsev, Sergiy V, Giglio, Louis, Skakun, Sergii, Myroniuk, Viktor, Zhuravel, Oleksandr, Goldammer, Johann Georg, Kussul, Nataliia Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Climate change and deforestation increase the vulnerability of Amazonian De Faria, Bruno L., Staal, Arie, Silva, Carlos A., Martin, Philip A., Panday, Prajjwal K., Dantas, Vinicius L. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Wetlands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Inundation
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