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-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.
| 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 contraints, citation, and reference information.