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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: 2026-05-14

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

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Title Year Author Topic
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
Open Data and Machine Learning to Model the Occurrence of Fire in the Barreto, Joan Sebastian, Armenteras, Dolors Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
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
MODIS sensor capability to burned area mappingAssessment of performance and improvements provided by the latest standard products in boreal regions Moreno-Ruiz, Jose A., Garcia-Lazaro, Jose R., Arbelo, Manuel, Canton-Garbin, Manuel Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Mapping burned areas of Mato Grosso state Brazilian Amazon using multisensor datasets Shimabukuro, Yosio Edemir, Dutra, Andeise Cerqueira, Arai, Egidio, Duarte, Valdete, Cassol, Henrique Luis Godinho, Pereira, Gabriel, Cardozo, Francielle da Silva Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Reflectance
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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
A global wildfire dataset for the analysis of fire regimes and fire behaviour Artes, Tomas, Oom, Duarte, de Rigo, Daniele, Durrant, Tracy Houston, Maianti, Pieralberto, Liberta, Giorgio, San-Miguel-Ayanz, Jesus 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
An assessment of multiple drivers determining woody species composition and structureA case study from the Kalahari, Botswana Meyer, Thoralf, Holloway, Paul, Christiansen, Thomas B., Miller, Jennifer A., DOdorico, Paolo, Okin, Gregory S. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
A patch-based algorithm for global and daily burned area mapping Campagnolo, M.L., Oom, D., Padilla, M., Pereira, J.M.C. Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Reflectance, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Burned Area
Assessing spatio-temporal variability of wildfires and their impact on Sub-Saharan ecosystems and air quality using multisource remotely sensed data and trend analysis Kganyago, Mahlatse, Shikwambana, Lerato Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Biophysical feedback of global forest fires on surface temperature Liu, Zhihua, Ballantyne, Ashley P., Cooper, L. Annie Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Burned area and surface albedo productsAssessment of change consistency at global scale Mota, Bernardo, Gobron, Nadine, Cappucci, Fabrizio, Morgan, Olivier Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Albedo, Anisotropy
Changes in fire activity in Africa from 2002 to 2016 and their potential drivers Zubkova, Maria, Boschetti, Luigi, Abatzoglou, John T., Giglio, Louis Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Varying relationships between fire radiative power and fire size at a global scale Laurent, Pierre, Mouillot, Florent, Moreno, Maria Vanesa, Yue, Chao, Ciais, Philippe 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
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