Knowing exactly where a fire burned and how severely it burned helps land managers make informed decisions for the present and the future. It also helps researchers better understand how ecosystems change after a considerable fire chars the landscape. 

Burn severity mapping work performed at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, in collaboration with other federal agencies, produces data useful for these needs. Satellite Earth observation imagery such as Landsat serves as an efficient and cost-effective basis for this mapping by providing a view of the ground before and after a fire. 

Burn severity data are released quarterly, and the newest release builds significantly on the large volume of data already available through the Burn Severity Portal. Here are the highlights:

• MTBS: The Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) program maps the burn severity and extent of large fires across the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico) from 1984 to the near-present. This includes all fires 1,000 acres or larger in the western United States and 500 acres or larger in the eastern United States. The new release adds 348 newly mapped MTBS fires in 26 states from the 2022 fire season. And the new full release of the MTBS historical archive now numbers 29,583 mapped fires. Explore MTBS maps.

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  Prairie Fires: The Flint Hills tallgrass prairie region of eastern Kansas and Oklahoma is a particularly fire-adapted ecosystem with unique characteristics that make prescribed fires especially beneficial. Spring prescribed fires help release nutrients into the ground, provide lush grass for grazing, and control plants harmful to the ecosystem, especially eastern red cedar. The Flint Hills Prairie Fires are mapped and viewed separately from MTBS. In this release, some historical maps for this region were shifted from MTBS to Prairie Fires. The number of mapped Prairie Fires for the years 1986-2024 now totals 229. Learn more about Prairie Fires maps.

• National Park Service: At the request of the National Park Service, EROS maps fires on Park Service land. This release also includes the shift of previously mapped MTBS small fires, bringing the total National Park Service fires to 848 for the years 1984-2024. Learn more about National Park Service fires.
• Undersized Fire Mapping Project: These fires, mapped by request, are smaller than the MTBS sizes and are located on lands of interest to the Department of the Interior and USDA Forest Service, excluding National Park Service land. The new release shifts the historical MTBS small fires from 1984-2021 into this category, with a current total of 728. Learn more about the Undersized Fire Mapping Project.
• BAER: Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams examine burned areas immediately after a fire to develop a plan to stabilize the landscape and mitigate hazards. A preliminary estimate of soil burn severity helps with these efforts. Additions in the new release bring the total BAER mapped fires for the years 2001-2024 to 1,435. Learn more about BAER.

• RAVG: The Forest Service’s Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Condition After Wildfire (RAVG) program estimates vegetation conditions on Forest Service lands about 30-45 days after a fire to help with reforestation plans. Information added in the new release brings the total fires to 1,323 for the years 2007-2023. Learn more about RAVG.

  The MTBS team is currently working on mapping fires from the years 2023 and 2024 to decrease the time between fire occurrences and the release of their burn severity products. Mapping occurs continuously, so to help push the latest information out to the users, quarterly data releases are typically held in February, May, August and November. Learn more about MTBS availability.