Skip to main content

Description

The Terra and Aqua combined MCD64A1 Version 6.1 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

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6.1 Burned Area data products: (1) Version 6.1 Level-1B (L1B) products have been improved by undergoing various calibration changes that include: changes to the response-versus-scan angle (RVS) approach that affects reflectance bands for Aqua and Terra MODIS, corrections to adjust for the optical crosstalk in Terra MODIS infrared (IR) bands, and corrections to the Terra MODIS forward look-up table (LUT) update for the period 2012 – 2017, and (2) A polarization correction has been applied to the L1B Reflective Solar Bands (RSB).

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 Present
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
C2565786756-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
81460
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Fire Ecology ,
Biomass Burning ,
Wildfires ,
Fire Occurrence ,
Burned Area

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. (2021). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.061 Date Accessed: 2026-05-16

File Naming Convention

MCD64A1.A2025152.h06v03.061.2025220161136.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD64A1) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025152), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h06v03), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025220161136), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

Use Worldview to Determine Fire Affected Areas in NRT Using MODIS and VIIRS

This tutorial shows how using Worldview, MODIS Bands 7-2-1 and VIIRS M11-I2-I1 Corrected Reflectance Imagery can be viewed in combination with the active fire data to identify fire-affected areas that are characterized by deposits of charcoal and ash, removal of vegetation and/or alteration of vegetation structure.
Tutorial
Aug. 26, 2013
MODIS 7-2-1

FIRMS - Use ArcGIS to Determine Fire Affected Areas in NRT Using MODIS and VIIRS

This tutorial shows how using ArcGIS Pro, MODIS Bands 7-2-1 and VIIRS M11-I2-I1 Corrected Reflectance Imagery can be viewed in combination with the active fire data to identify fire-affected areas that are characterized by deposits of charcoal and ash, removal of vegetation and/or alteration of vegetation structure.
Tutorial
Aug. 26, 2013
SHOWING 3 OF 3

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
CLASSIC v1. 0: the open-source community successor to the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS) and the Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystem Model ... Seiler, Christian, Melton, Joe R., Arora, Vivek K., Wang, Libo Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Reflectance, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Burned Area, Albedo, Anisotropy
Carbon loss from forest degradation exceeds that from deforestation in Qin, Yuanwei, Xiao, Xiangming, Wigneron, Jean-Pierre, Ciais, Philippe, Brandt, Martin, Fan, Lei, Li, Xiaojun, Crowell, Sean, Wu, Xiaocui, Doughty, Russell, Zhang, Yao, Liu, Fang, Sitch, Stephen, Moore, Berrien Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Total Surface Precipitation Rate
Changes in biomass burning, wetland extent, or agriculture drive Hickman, Jonathan E., Andela, Niels, Dammers, Enrico, Clarisse, Lieven, Coheur, Pierre-Francois, Van Damme, Martin, Di Vittorio, Courtney A., Ossohou, Money, Galy-Lacaux, Corinne, Tsigaridis, Kostas, Bauer, Susanne E. Total Surface Precipitation Rate, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Changes in global terrestrial live biomass over the 21st century Xu, Liang, Saatchi, Sassan S., Yang, Yan, Yu, Yifan, Pongratz, Julia, Bloom, A. Anthony, Bowman, Kevin, Worden, John, Liu, Junjie, Yin, Yi, Domke, Grant, McRoberts, Ronald E., Woodall, Christopher, Nabuurs, Gert-Jan, de-Miguel, Sergio, Keller, Michael, Harris, Nancy, Maxwell, Sean, Schimel, David RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
MOSEV: A global burn severity database from MODIS (2000-2020) Alonso-Gonzalez, Esteban, Fernandez-Garcia, Victor Reflectance, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
NMDI application for monitoring different vegetation covers in the Atlantic Forest biome, Brazil Oliveira Santos, Raquel de, Delgado, Rafael Coll, Vilanova, Regiane Souza, Santana, Romario Oliveira de, Andrade, Caio Frossard de, Teodoro, Paulo Eduardo, Silva Junior, Carlos Antonio, Capristo-Silva, Guilherme Fernando, Lima, Mendelson Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Instantaneous Pre-Fire Biomass and Fuel Load Measurements from Multi-Spectral UAS Mapping in Southern African Savannas Eames, Tom, Russell-Smith, Jeremy, Yates, Cameron, Edwards, Andrew, Vernooij, Roland, Ribeiro, Natasha, Steinbruch, Franziska, van der Werf, Guido R. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Missing Burns in the High Northern Latitudes: The Case for Regionally Chen, Dong, Shevade, Varada, Baer, Allison, Loboda, Tatiana V. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Long-Time Interval Satellite Image Analysis on Forest-Cover Changes and Khatancharoen, Chulabush, Tsuyuki, Satoshi, Bryanin, Semyon V., Sugiura, Konosuke, Seino, Tatsuyuki, Lisovsky, Viktor V., Borisova, Irina G., Wada, Naoya RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Forests, Infrared Imagery, Reforestation
Low meteorological influence found in 2019 Amazonia fires Kelley, Douglas I., Burton, Chantelle, Huntingford, Chris, Brown, Megan A. J., Whitley, Rhys, Dong, Ning Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Accuracy estimation of two global burned area products at national scale Katagis, T, Gitas, I Z Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
African burned area and fire carbon emissions are strongly impacted by small fires undetected by coarse resolution satellite data Ramo, Ruben, Roteta, Ekhi, Bistinas, Ioannis, van Wees, Dave, Bastarrika, Aitor, Chuvieco, Emilio, van der Werf, Guido R. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
An alternative approach for mapping burn scars using Landsat imagery, Google Earth Engine, and Deep Learning in the Brazilian Savanna Arruda, Vera L.S., Piontekowski, Valderli J., Alencar, Ane, Pereira, Reginaldo S., Matricardi, Eraldo A.T. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
A space view of agricultural and industrial changes during the Syrian civil war Abeed, Rimal, Clerbaux, Cathy, Clarisse, Lieven, Van Damme, Martin, Coheur, Pierre-Francois, Safieddine, Sarah Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Accuracy analysis for mapping burnt areas using a 1Km VIIRS scene and Random Forest classification Antonio da Silva Junior, Juarez, Joaquim da Silva Junior, Ubiratan, Da Penha Pacheco, Admilson Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Reflectance
A preliminary global automatic burned-area algorithm at medium resolution in google earth engine Roteta, Ekhi, Bastarrika, Aitor, Ibisate, Askoa, Chuvieco, Emilio Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
A reconstruction of the recent fire regimes of Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi, using remote sensing Nieman, Willem A., van Wilgen, Brian W., Leslie, Alison J. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
A multi-scale assessment of fire scar mapping in the Great Victoria Desert of Western Australia Ruscalleda-Alvarez, Jaume, Moro, Dorian, van Dongen, Richard Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
A multiple species, continent-wide, million-phenotype agronomic plant dataset Newman, Saul Justin, Furbank, Robert T. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Forest Canopy Changes in the Southern Amazon during the 2019 Fire Season Zhang, Huixian, Hagan, Daniel Fiifi Tawia, Dalagnol, Ricardo, Liu, Yi Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Precipitation, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Rain, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Burned Area
Global tropospheric ozone responses to reduced NOx emissions linked to the COVID-19 worldwide lockdowns Miyazaki, Kazuyuki, Bowman, Kevin, Sekiya, Takashi, Takigawa, Masayuki, Neu, Jessica L., Sudo, Kengo, Osterman, Greg, Eskes, Henk Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Global search for temporal shifts in fire activity: Potential human influence on southwest Russia and north Australia fire seasons Liu, Tianjia, Mickley, Loretta J, McCarty, Jessica L Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Global emissions of NH3, NOx, and N2O from biomass burning and the impact of climate change Bray, Casey D., Battye, William H., Aneja, Viney P., Schlesinger, William H. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Vegetation Index, Landscape Patterns, Geopotential Height, Altitude, Surface Temperature, Upper Air Temperature, Dew Point Temperature, Air Temperature, Cloud Top Temperature, Atmospheric Winds, Surface Winds, U/V Wind Components, Upper Level Winds, U/V Wind Components, Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed, Atmospheric Pressure, Sea Level Pressure, Cloud Top Pressure, Sea Level Pressure, Surface Pressure, Specific Humidity, Total Precipitable Water, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Atmospheric Ozone, Oxygen Compounds, Boundary Layer Winds, Skin Temperature
Global impact of landscape fire emissions on surface level PM2.5 concentrations, air quality exposure and population mortality Roberts, G., Wooster, M.J. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Global intercomparison of functional pyrodiversity from two satellite sensors Moreno, M. Vanesa, Laurent, Pierre, Mouillot, Florent Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
You're viewing 275 of 449