Validation of the MODIS burned-area products across different biomes in South Africa

Abstract

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time-series data afford the remote sensing community a unique opportunity to investigate the frequency and distribution of fires. Previous research that validated the MODIS burned area product (MCD45A1) in South Africa was only limited to two Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) scenes in savanna vegetation, which is not adequate for robust assessment of fire distribution across diverse environments. In this study, validation of the MCD45A1 and the Backup MODIS burned area product (hereafter BMBAP) was extended over different South African vegetation types by quantifying their burned area detection and estimation accuracy using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery. Results from the four validation sites reveal that there are subtle differences in the accuracy of the two products. These differences could be influenced for example by, vegetation type, spectral characteristics, and size distribution of the burned areas. These results have significant implications for fire monitoring in Southern Africa.