SAFARI 2000: Southern Africa Biomass Burning Emissions and Aerosol Data

An archived copy of the SAFARI 2000 Project website from October 2008 provides information on an international Earth science initiative for southern Africa. The dataset includes spatial estimates of monthly biomass burned area and trace gas emissions at 1-km resolution for the year 2000, derived from satellite observations like GBA2000 and ATSR fire counts. AERONET ground-based aerosol optical property measurements from several sites in the region are also included.

Use Cases

• Modeling trace gas and aerosol emissions from open fires based on estimated variables like methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), and PM2.5.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of biomass burning in southern Africa using 1-km resolution fractional vegetation and fuel load maps.
• Studying aerosol optical properties in the southern Africa region using archived AERONET sun-sky radiometer measurements.
• Comparing annual total area burned and CO2 emissions for southern Africa against estimates from other studies.

Strengths

• Includes spatial estimates at 1-km resolution for burned area and emissions.
• Contains emissions estimates for multiple trace gases and aerosols, including acetic acid, methanol, and formaldehyde.
• Combines satellite-derived data (GBA2000, ATSR) with ground-based AERONET measurements for validation.

Limitations

• The core website and associated content have not been updated since January 2008, indicating potentially outdated information.
• Row count, file formats, and column-level documentation are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness is unverified as the last update date is unknown.

Provenance

Source

NASA SAFARI 2000 Project.

Collection Method

Data generated using satellite observations (ATSR, GBA2000) and ground-based AERONET network measurements.

Time Range

Primary emissions data is for the year 2000; website archived in October 2008.

Freshness

Data is archived from 2008; updates are not expected.

Geography

Southern Africa.