Thomas Fire Soil Burn Severity

Classification (BARC) product which has been field-validated and modified by a U.S. Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team. The BARC dataset is produced by first creating a Normalized Burn Ratio for both a pre and post-fire Sentinel 2 image and then differencing the two into a dNBR. The dNBR image attempts to portray the variation of burn severity within a fire. The severity rating is based upon a composite of the severity to the understory (grass, shrub layers), midstory trees and overstory trees. Because there is often a strong correlation between canopy consumption and soil effects, this algorithm works in many cases for BAER teams whose objective is a soil burn severity assessment. It is not, however, appropriate in all ecosystems or fires.

To see this layer for the Whittier Fire, click here.