SAFARI 2000 MODIS Burned Area Maps for Southern Africa Dry Season

MODIS 500-meter burned area products map the location and approximate day of burning for all of southern Africa south of the Equator, including Madagascar. The archived data set contains products for two key dry season months, July and September 2000. This prototype product was developed by the SAFARI 2000 project and validated using multitemporal Landsat ETM+ data.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial patterns of fire occurrence during the 2000 dry season across southern Africa using the 500m resolution burned area maps.
• Studying the timing of burning events via the 'approximate day of burning' data layer.
• Validating or comparing other regional fire products using the methodology based on Landsat ETM+ interpretation.
• Assessing land surface reflectance changes related to biomass burning using the underlying MODIS near-infrared and shortwave infrared band data.

Strengths

• Data was validated using a methodology based on interpretation of multitemporal Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) data.
• Provides spatially explicit mapping at 500-meter resolution for the entire region south of the Equator, including Madagascar.
• Represents the first regional test for a prototype MODIS burned area product, indicating foundational research importance.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to two months (July and September) from the year 2000.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, with one listing 2000-10-04 and others listing 2026-03-12, suggesting potential metadata inconsistencies.

Provenance

Source

SAFARI 2000 project, utilizing MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor data.

Collection Method

Generated using a change detection algorithm based on a bi-directional reflectance model applied to reprocessed 500m daily MODIS land surface reflectance data.

Time Range

2000 (specifically July and September)

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:47:33.813585

Geography

All of southern Africa south of the Equator, including Madagascar.