SCAR-B: GOES-8 Diurnal Fire Products for the 1995 Brazil Fire Season

GOES-8 Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (ABBA) version 5.5 generated diurnal fire products for four specific observation times (1145, 1445, 1745, and 2045 UTC) during the 1995 fire season in Brazil, from June to October. These data were collected as part of the Smoke/Sulfates, Clouds and Radiation - Brazil (SCAR-B) experiment to study the effects of biomass burning on atmospheric processes and improve remote sensing techniques. The fire products are derived from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-8 imager radiances in visible, 3.9 micron, and 11 micron bands.

Use Cases

• Analyzing diurnal fire activity patterns based on four daily satellite observations during peak burning hours.
• Studying the impact of biomass burning aerosols on atmospheric radiation and chemistry using data from a dedicated field campaign.
• Validating and improving automated fire detection algorithms for geostationary satellites.
• Assessing historical fire regimes and deforestation impacts in Brazil during the 1995 burning season.

Strengths

• Provides temporally specific data with four daily observations (1145, 1445, 1745, 2045 UTC) targeting peak fire activity.
• Derived from a well-defined algorithm (GOES-8 ABBA v5.5) applied to a complete fire season (June-October 1995).
• Data originates from a major, focused scientific field campaign (SCAR-B) with clear objectives related to biomass burning.

Limitations

• Column names and precise data structure are unknown, limiting immediate usability.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata (1995 vs. 2026) creates uncertainty about data currency and potential reprocessing.
• Spatial coverage is implied to be Brazil but its exact geographic bounds are not specified.

Provenance

Source

Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; data archived by NASA/LARC_ASDC.

Collection Method

Derived from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-8 imager radiances processed through the Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (ABBA).

Time Range

June 1995 - October 1995

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:08:01.722869

Geography

Brazil