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Landsat Normalized Burn Ratio

Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) is used to identify burned areas and provide a measure of burn severity. It is calculated as a ratio between the NIR and SWIR values in traditional fashion.

Return to Landsat Surface Reflectance-derived Spectral Indices Overview

 

Landsat Surface Reflectance and Normalized Burn Ratio
This image displays a (left) Landsat Surface Reflectance (SR) and (right) the SR-derived Landsat Surface Reflectance Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR).

Landsat Surface Reflectance-derived Landsat Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) are available for Landsat 4–5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 8-9* Operational Land Imager (OLI)/Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) Collection 1 and Collection 2 scenes that have been processed to Landsat Level-2 Surface Reflectance products.  *Landsat 9 = Collection 2 only

NBR is used to identify burned areas and provide a measure of burn severity. It is calculated as a ratio between the NIR and SWIR values in traditional fashion.

(NIR - SWIR) / (NIR + SWIR)

In Landsat 4-7, NBR = (Band 4 – Band 7) / (Band 4 + Band 7).

In Landsat 8-9, NBR = (Band 5 – Band 7) / (Band 5 + Band 7).

NBR is delivered as a single band product specified as shown in the table below.
 

Landsat Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) Specifications

Attribute Value
Long Name Normalized Burn Ratio
Short Name LC8NBR, LE7NBR, LT5NBR, or LT4NBR
File Name *_sr_nbr.tif
Data Type Signed 16-bit Integer
Units Spectral Index (Band Ratio)
Valid Range -10,000 — 10,000
Fill Value Collection 2: -19999 Collection 1: -9999
Saturate Value 20,000
Scale Factor *0.0001

Data Access

Landsat Surface Reflectance-derived NBR are produced on-demand, using the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) On Demand Interface

Visit the Landsat Surface Reflectance-derived Spectral Indices page for information on product constraints, citation, and reference information. 

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