comparison of NOAA–AVHRR fire data with three Landsat data sets in arid and semi-arid Australia

Burnt area data, derived from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery, are validated in 11 regions of arid and semi-arid Australia, using three separate Landsat-derived burnt area data sets. Mapping accuracy of burnt extent is highly variable between areas and from year to year within the same area. Where there are corresponding patches in the AVHRR and Landsat data sets, the fit is good. However, the AVHRR data set misses some large patches. Overall, 63% of the Landsat burnt area is also mapped in the AVHRR data set, but this varies from 0% to 89% at different sites. In total, 81% of the AVHRR burnt area data are matched in the Landsat data set, but range from 0% to 94%. The lower match rates (