Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on 
the Terra satellite using the dNDVI index. All BAER burn 
severity products generated by EROS and RSAC, including 
products generated for Australia in 2009, can be previewed and 
downloaded at the USFS/USGS BAER data distribution 
website (http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/baer/download.php). 
3.2 Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity Project 
Burn severity products similar to those described in this paper 
are being generated for the United States for the period 1984 to 
the present (Eidenshink, 2007) by the Monitoring Trends in 
Burn Severity (MTBS) project. Products generated by MTBS 
are not designed to satisfy BAER team immediate post fire 
mapping requirements. MTBS products may not be available 
for several months after a fire. However, this joint USDA FS 
and DOI USGS project is mapping all historical fires greater 
than 1,000 acres and examining national trends in fire 
characteristics over time. More MTBS related information and 
data downloads are available at the USGS/USFS MTBS 
website (http://www.mtbs.gov). 
3.3 Training for Burn Severity Mapping 
In the United States, except for one designated specialist, 
BAER team members are generally not GIS experts. BAER 
teams are typically staffed by hydrologists, soil scientists, 
archeologists, and wildlife biologists. The BARC and other 
geospatial map layers require some ability to view and 
manipulate data in common GIS software. Therefore, the 
remote sensing centers offer training in basic remote sensing 
theory, BARC editing, and methods for appropriate use of 
BARC data in erosion-risk and other models (Clark, 2011). 
These training sessions are open to all interagency 
professionals. More information about the remote sensing 
support offered to BAER teams in the United States and online 
burn mapping training is available at the USFS/USGS BAER 
imagery support website (http://Www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac/baer/). 
4. CONCLUSIONS 
Burn severity mapping using remote sensing and GIS 
technologies has become an operational component of BAER 
teams in the United States. These methodologies may be 
applicable in Australia and other countries where wildfires have 
potential to impact human health and property, as well as other 
critical resources. Although this effort did not assess the 
accuracy of burn severity products in Australian ecosystems, 
burn severity mapping using NBR, NDVI and other indices, 
such as the leaf area index, have been evaluated with 
reasonable results in Australia (Boer, 2008). The most efficient 
and responsive approach to generating burn severity products 
for fires in Australia and other countries is likely a process 
where products are developed locally. Organizations such as 
EROS and RSAC may be useful sources of satellite imagery, 
user and data processing training, processing methodologies 
and models, and image calibration techniques. However, local 
staff involvement in the burn mapping process would promote 
the collection of field verification/validation data and facilitate 
a more interactive approach to developing final map products. 
Additional work evaluating satellite image-derived indices for 
mapping burn severity in Australian ecosystems should be 
conducted. 
54 
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