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BAER Soil Burn Severity Classification (Image Service)

Published by U.S. Forest Service | Department of Agriculture | Metadata Last Checked: October 02, 2025 | Last Modified: 2025-09-16
<div style='text-align:Left;'><div><div><p><span>The USDA Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Imagery Support program produces geospatial data of post-fire burn severities using standardized change detection methods based on Landsat, Sentinel-2, or similar multispectral satellite imagery. The BAER Imagery Support program provides an initial Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) product to BAER teams. The BARC is a preliminary vegetation burn severity product which assesses severity based on the magnitude of detectable change to above ground biomass. The BAER teams collect field data on post-fire soil conditions that is used with the BARC to create the final soil burn severity (SBS) classification product for each BAER assessment. The SBS data is preferred for sharing publicly since it has been validated by the BAER team in the field. BAER teams use the soil burn severity product to assess the need for and application of emergency soil stabilization treatments following a wildfire. National mosaics compiling SBS classification products from individual BAER assessments are prepared on an annual basis. This SBS dataset is a compilation of final burn severity data products created by USDA Forest Service BAER teams from 2017 through the most recent completed fire year. It is a thematic raster dataset with four burn severity classes: unburned to very low, low, moderate, and high. The spatial resolution is variable based on the imagery used to create the initial BARC product and subsequent processing by the BAER teams. Datasets are typically 30m for Landsat assessments and 20m for Sentinel-2 assessments.</span></p></div></div></div>

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