Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) is defined mathematically as (NIR – SWIR)/(NIR + SWIR) where NIR is near-infrared and SWIR is short-wave infrared. NBR is commonly used as a proxy to indicate areas which have charred vegetation.

NBR can be used to identify burned vegetation and assess spatial patterns of wildfire impacts. Healthy vegetation generally produces higher positive NBR values, while recently burned or charred vegetation generally produces lower or negative values.

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MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) on European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-2A/2B satellites

10 meters

NASA/GSFC, USGS, ESA Copernicus

ESA, Copernicus, Sentinel-2, Optical