Fire M3 Hotspots

Burned areas are mapped by combining an annual hotspot map with observed annual changes in a vegetation index from SPOT VGT. The vegetation index is compared for each pixel from one year to the next. Pixels with a significant drop in the index that are spatially coupled to a hotspot are mapped as being burned. This technique is used to provide a coarse-resolution burned area product for Canadian forests at the end of each forest fire season (Fraser et al. 2000).

Note: For official burned area maps, please contact the provincial and territorial fire management agencies.

Reference

Fraser, R.H., Li, Z., and J. Cihlar. 2000. Hotspot and NDVI differencing synergy (HANDS): a new technique for burned area mapping over boreal forest. Remote Sensing of Environment 74:362-376.

More information about Fire M3 is available in the Background Information.

Smoke Forecasts for Canada available at: FireSmoke.ca and Firework.

Fire M3 maps and reports are updated daily from May through September.