MODIS Active Fire Frequency Data for South America

Satellite-derived data provides active fire locations and annual fire frequency estimates for South America from 2000 to 2007. The dataset includes 7 GeoTIFF raster files representing fire frequency at 250-meter resolution and 7 shapefiles of fire locations for 2001-2007. It was produced by ORNL_CLOUD using a high-confidence subset of MODIS sensor data from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites to analyze spatial and temporal fire patterns.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial patterns of fire activity using the annual fire frequency GeoTIFF rasters.
• Tracking the temporal progression of fires across years using the time-series of shapefile locations.
• Assessing the relationship between fire occurrence and deforestation by overlaying fire locations with land cover maps.
• Validating regional fire models with satellite-derived active fire detections and frequency estimates.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a high-confidence subset of MODIS detections, reducing false positives from small forest clearings.
• Provides a multi-year time series (2000-2007) from two satellite platforms (Terra and Aqua).
• Offers data in both raster (frequency) and vector (location) formats for flexible analysis.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates exist across platforms (2007-12-31 vs. 2026-03-13), suggesting potential metadata issues.
• The exact row count and dataset size are unknown, limiting precise assessment of data volume.
• Temporal coverage is inconsistent between platforms, with one stating Terra data ends in 2007 and another using '??2007'.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD, using NASA MODIS sensors aboard Terra and Aqua satellites.

Collection Method

Analysis of a high-confidence subset of MODIS active fire detections, processed with the ArcGIS neighborhood variety algorithm to estimate unique fire days within a 1 km radius.

Time Range

2000-2007

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:13:21.282910

Geography

South America