Improvements to the Burn Severity Portal, including increased consistency to previously released maps and expanded data access, have been released, strengthening tools that are used for wildfire response and analysis.
The 2026 third quarter release for the Burn Severity Portal includes 315 fires from multiple fire seasons for Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS), 25 fires from multiple seasons for the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) project, and 67 fire mapping data sets for the Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Cover After Wildfire (RAVG) project. MTBS has mapped large fires across the United States from 1984 to present, growing to an archive of nearly 31,000 fires.
Earlier map products have also been re-issued for improved consistency and to address issues. They include 221 fires for MTBS, 5 fire maps for BAER, 30 fire datasets for the National Park Service (NPS) project, two fires from 2026 for the Provisional Initial Assessment (PIA) project, and 43 fire mapping datasets for RAVG.
The new improvements also include expanded Direct Download data access for users. Requests can be made for fire occurrence and polygon products for Composite Burn Index, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), NPS, PIA, Prairie Fires, and Undersized Fire Mapping Project (UFPM). Raster mosaics by extent and year are available for NPS, PIA and UFPM products, in addition to MTBS and RAVG.
Plans are underway to expand access to BAER products.
Have you used MTBS? We welcome your feedback on the MTBS Customer Satisfaction and Needs Assessment form.
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Learn more about Wildfire Burn Severity Mapping.
Wildfire Burn Severity Mapping (AD)
Have you ever wondered how scientists determine the burn severity of wildfire? Researchers use satellites to scan Earth and identify where plants and trees have been burned. The scans are used to compare the reflectiveness of green plants to other charred or blackened surfaces. And create maps that show unburned and high, medium, or low-severity burned areas. Burn severity maps are used by...
Hundreds of Fire Maps Released on Burn Severity Portal Hundreds of Fire Maps Released on Burn Severity Portal
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Learn more about Wildfire Burn Severity Mapping.
Wildfire Burn Severity Mapping (AD)
Have you ever wondered how scientists determine the burn severity of wildfire? Researchers use satellites to scan Earth and identify where plants and trees have been burned. The scans are used to compare the reflectiveness of green plants to other charred or blackened surfaces. And create maps that show unburned and high, medium, or low-severity burned areas. Burn severity maps are used by...