USGS EROS Archive - Landsat - Landsat Level-3 Burned Area (BA) Science Product
Landsat Collection 1 Level-3 Burned Area (BA) contains two acquisition-based raster data products that represent burn classification and burn probability.
NOTE: Landsat Collection 1 data and products are no longer available to download from the USGS as of December 30, 2022. Landsat Collection 2 remains available. Please access the Landsat Collection 2 webpage below for information about Collection 2 data and science products.
NOTE: Landsat Collection 1 data and products are no longer available to download from the USGS as of December 30, 2022. The information on this webpage is for reference only.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offers Landsat Level- 3 Burned Area (BA) data for Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper (TM). Landsat BA contains two acquisition-based raster data products that represent burn classification and burn probability.
Landsat BA science products are generated from U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) Surface Reflectance data, processed to 30-meter spatial resolution in Albers Equal Area (AEA) projection using the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) datum, and gridded to a common tiling scheme. These data are processed to the highest scientific standards and can be used directly in monitoring and assessing landscape change.
The following date ranges apply to the availability of the Landsat BA science product:
- Landsat 8 OLI: April 2013 to December 31, 2021*
- Landsat 7 ETM+: July 1999 to December 31, 2021*
- Landsat 5 TM: March 1984 to May 2012
- Landsat 4 TM: March 1984 to July 1993
*As of January 1, 2022, newly-acquired Landsat data are processed into Landsat Collection 2 only.
Most Landsat Collection 1 Level-1 scenes can be processed to generate a BA product. In addition to the caveats listed on the Landsat ARD and Surface Reflectance web pages, please note the following:
- A Quality Assessment process was applied to the BA products prior to public release, which includes visually assessing each scene-level BA product for excessive commission errors caused by factors such as incorrect cloud masks or poor georeferencing. Therefore, while the majority of Landsat scenes were used to generate BA products, certain scenes may not be able to be processed to produce a scientifically viable BA product.
- Occasionally some burned areas are incorrectly classified as being water in the BA product. This occurs if the input ARD Pixel QA (PIXELQA) band includes pixels that are flagged as “water, terrain, low-confidence cloud”.
- The product metadata file (XML) lists the band information for both the burn classification and burn probability. The units for the pixel size is “m” and should be “meters” to be compliant with the schema.
Additional Information
- Landsat Missions Web site
- Landsat Burned Area Product Guide
- Landsat Burned Area Algorithm Description Document
Access Data
Landsat Collection 1 no longer available.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Landsat Collection 1 Level-3 Burned Area (BA) contains two acquisition-based raster data products that represent burn classification and burn probability.
NOTE: Landsat Collection 1 data and products are no longer available to download from the USGS as of December 30, 2022. Landsat Collection 2 remains available. Please access the Landsat Collection 2 webpage below for information about Collection 2 data and science products.
NOTE: Landsat Collection 1 data and products are no longer available to download from the USGS as of December 30, 2022. The information on this webpage is for reference only.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offers Landsat Level- 3 Burned Area (BA) data for Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper (TM). Landsat BA contains two acquisition-based raster data products that represent burn classification and burn probability.
Landsat BA science products are generated from U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) Surface Reflectance data, processed to 30-meter spatial resolution in Albers Equal Area (AEA) projection using the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) datum, and gridded to a common tiling scheme. These data are processed to the highest scientific standards and can be used directly in monitoring and assessing landscape change.
The following date ranges apply to the availability of the Landsat BA science product:
- Landsat 8 OLI: April 2013 to December 31, 2021*
- Landsat 7 ETM+: July 1999 to December 31, 2021*
- Landsat 5 TM: March 1984 to May 2012
- Landsat 4 TM: March 1984 to July 1993
*As of January 1, 2022, newly-acquired Landsat data are processed into Landsat Collection 2 only.
Most Landsat Collection 1 Level-1 scenes can be processed to generate a BA product. In addition to the caveats listed on the Landsat ARD and Surface Reflectance web pages, please note the following:
- A Quality Assessment process was applied to the BA products prior to public release, which includes visually assessing each scene-level BA product for excessive commission errors caused by factors such as incorrect cloud masks or poor georeferencing. Therefore, while the majority of Landsat scenes were used to generate BA products, certain scenes may not be able to be processed to produce a scientifically viable BA product.
- Occasionally some burned areas are incorrectly classified as being water in the BA product. This occurs if the input ARD Pixel QA (PIXELQA) band includes pixels that are flagged as “water, terrain, low-confidence cloud”.
- The product metadata file (XML) lists the band information for both the burn classification and burn probability. The units for the pixel size is “m” and should be “meters” to be compliant with the schema.
Additional Information
- Landsat Missions Web site
- Landsat Burned Area Product Guide
- Landsat Burned Area Algorithm Description Document
Access Data
Landsat Collection 1 no longer available.