New improvement in the LANDFIRE 2023 Update: 4 seasons of satellite imagery!
Beginning in the LANDFIRE 2023 Update (LF 2023), disturbance mapping utilizes 4 seasonal composites, doubling our use of satellite imagery.
In the past, only 2 composites were used in disturbance mapping.
New and improved composites are made possible by recent advancements in percentile-based image compositing and additional observations in Harmonized Landsat-Sentinel (HLS) data.
In this example at Elk Mountain in Black Hills, SD you can see how using more satellite imagery makes a difference! This mid-October (2022) fire would not have been captured in LANDFIRE disturbance products as satellite-detected change if not for the use of the 4 seasonal composites.
A fire scar that is visible in the 2023 winter and spring composite, was not visible and identifiable later in the year in the 2023 summer composite due to vegetation greening.