The above image is the "Burn Date" Science Data Set layer, which provides a thematic depiction of the burned area pixels. The image date is October 1, 2007. Red color indicates the approximate Julian day of burning; the dates spans from September 25, 2007 and November 6, 2007. Orange color indicates either areas that are snow-covered or areas with high aerosol. The blue and cyan colors relate to external and internal water bodies. The larger thistle-colored background indicates unburned areas.
Data Characteristics
Single Gridded Tile Area: ~1200 x 1200 km (~10° x 10° at the equator)
Image Dimensions: 2400 x 2400 rows/columns
File Size: 0.25 – 8.25 MB
Resolution: 500 meters
Projection: Sinusoidal
Data Format: HDF-EOS
Science Data Sets (HDF SDS Layers): 8
Product Description
MCD45A1 is a monthly Level-3 gridded 500-meter product, which contains burning
and quality information on a per-pixel basis. Produced from both the Terra
and Aqua MODIS-derived daily surface reflectance inputs, the algorithm analyzes
the daily surface reflectance dynamics to locate rapid changes, uses that
information to detect the approximate date of burning, and maps the spatial
extent of recent fires only. It provides varied quality assessment information
and a single summary quality assessment score for each pixel.
The MCD45A1 algorithm improves on previous methods by using a bidirectional
reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model-based change detection approach
to handle angular variations in the data. It further uses a statistical measure
to identify change probability from a previously observed state. A monthly
MCD45A1 product is based on three months of atmospherically and geometrically
corrected, cloud-screened daily reflectance data.
LP DAAC User Services
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS)
47914 252nd Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57198-0001