The image above shows the OPERA Vegetation Disturbance Status (Color Index) layer overlaid on top of the false color (bands 12=8A-4) reflectance image on December 18, 2024. This layer maps vegetation disturbance, specifically vegetation cover loss, by pixel. Vegetation disturbance is mapped where there is an indicated decrease in vegetation cover within a 30m pixel. The displayed layer describes vegetation disturbance status based on confidence, magnitude of loss, and whether it is ongoing.
There are three confidence levels: "first detection," which is loss detected in only the most recent observation; "provisional" upon a second detection of vegetation loss; and "confirmed" once there are sufficient loss detections to reach high confidence of disturbance. These are reported for both disturbances with <50% vegetation cover loss and those with ≥50% loss, whether diffuse across an entire pixel or just a portion of it. These labels persist as long as the anomalies continue to be detected. Once a location no longer has low vegetation cover, confirmed alerts are labeled as "finished" and the others are reset to no disturbance.
In this case, most of the burned area pixels are identified as "Provisional <50%" (greenish khaki color) which indicates this is the second detection of vegetation loss, which further confirms that the area lost vegetation due to the fire.
The input dataset for generating each product is the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset. The OPERA Land Surface Disturbance (L3) imagery layer is available through the Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis (OPERA) project.
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