Conjunctive Use of Landsat-8 OLI and MODIS Data for Delineation of Burned Areas

Abstract

For regional-level monitoring of burned areas, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS ) MCD64A1 and MCD45A1 products have been operationally used. However, because of their coarser spatial resolution, such products do not allow for detection of small patches (<50 ha) of burned areas, which are very important for modeling gas emissions. In order to bridge this gap, we undertook a study to evaluate the synergy of MCD64A1 and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI ) data for delineating burned areas in part of the mountainous terrain of the Himalayas, northern India. The approach involves generating a differenced normalized burn ratio image from Landsat-8 OLI data before and after fire events, refining the burned areas thus delineated using the MCD64A1 burned-area product and field data, and estimating accuracy. An overall mapping accuracy of 90.0% was achieved using Landsat-8 OLI data. Inclusion of the MODIS MCD64A1 burned-area product resulted in marginal improvement in overall accuracy (to 94.0%).