SAFARI 2000 Global Burned Area Map for Southern Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa burned areas were mapped monthly and annually for the year 2000 using SPOT-VEGETATION satellite imagery at 1 km resolution. The Global Burned Area 2000 (GBA2000) initiative, led by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, produced this dataset. Burned pixels were identified using a classification tree algorithm applied to the near-infrared channel of the VGT sensor.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the spatial distribution of biomass burning across sub-Saharan Africa using the geographic coordinates of burned pixels.
• Studying monthly patterns of wildfire occurrence throughout the year 2000 via the time-series of monthly binary image files.
• Quantifying total area burned per vegetation type by integrating the burned area map with land cover classifications.
• Validating other global fire emission models using an independent, satellite-derived burned area product for the year 2000.

Strengths

• Data is radiometrically calibrated, geo-located, and atmospherically corrected (S1 daily synthesis format).
• Provides both monthly and annual composites, enabling temporal analysis of fire patterns.
• Derived from a consistent, automated classification tree method applied solely to the VGT near-infrared channel.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates exist across platforms (2000-12-31 vs. 2026-03-12), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.
• Limited to a single year (2000) and a specific region (sub-Saharan Africa), reducing utility for long-term or global studies.
• Column names and exact row/pixel counts are unspecified across all sources.

Provenance

Source

Global Vegetation Mapping Unit of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, in partnership with other institutions for the SAFARI 2000 campaign.

Collection Method

Burned areas identified using a classification tree algorithm on SPOT-VEGETATION (VGT) satellite imagery at 1 km spatial resolution.

Time Range

2000

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:48:27.825196

Geography

Sub-Saharan Africa