The GBA2000 initiative:: developing a global burnt area database from SPOT-VEGETATION imagery

The scientific community dealing with modelling of emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols from anthropogenic sources demands reliable and quantitative information on the magnitude of biomass burning at a global scale. It is in this context that the Global Burnt Area - 2000 (GBA2000) initiative has been launched. The specific objectives of this initiative are to produce a map of the areas burnt globally for the year 2000, using the medium resolution (1.1 km) Systeme Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) 4-VEGETATION (SPOT-VGT) satellite imagery and to derive statistics of area burnt per country, per month and per main type of vegetation cover. A series of regional algorithms has been developed and incorporated into a data processing system designed to yield monthly estimates of areas burnt at a global scale. The map data will then be transformed into quantitative information and made publicly available over the World Wide Web at a range of spatial and temporal resolutions to satisfy some of the requirements of the atmospheric and climate change modelling community.