NBR
The normalized burn ratio from near-infrared and the longer shortwave-infrared band, the index burn severity is measured with.
Experimental: not yet fully verified. How results are checked
NBR is 0.6098.
Provenance
- Computed by
- raster.index.nbr 1.0.0, core 0.1.0
- Model
- NBR = (NIR - SWIR2) / (NIR + SWIR2) on surface reflectance (Key and Benson 2006)
- Accuracy
- Exact arithmetic on the reflectance given.
- Notes
- 1 shown with the answer
- Cites
- Key, C. H., and Benson, N. C., USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Landscape Assessment (LA): sampling and analysis methods, in FIREMON: Fire Effects Monitoring and Inventory System
Something look off?
How we got thisFormula, worked example, sources, and proof
Model: NBR = (NIR - SWIR2) / (NIR + SWIR2) on surface reflectance (Key and Benson 2006)
Accuracy: Exact arithmetic on the reflectance given.
When to use this: Use this on a scene before or after a fire: healthy vegetation reflects near-infrared and absorbs the longer shortwave band, while recently burned ground does the opposite, so NBR falls sharply where a fire has passed. One NBR is a state; the difference between two is what measures severity.
Limitations: A single NBR is not a severity: it reads low over water, rock, and bare ground that never burned. Severity comes from dNBR, the pre-fire value minus the post-fire one, and even that needs a pre-fire image of the same season to compare against.
Worked example: NBR. Source: Key and Benson 2006: NIR 0.33 and SWIR2 0.08 give 0.6098. It is golden test vector v005, and every build checks the tool still gives its answer within its tolerance.
You enter
- Near-infrared reflectance
- 0.33
- Shortwave-infrared reflectance
- 0.08
You get
- NBR
- 0.6098
Review: Not yet independently reviewed by a GIS professional.
Last verified: 2026-09-22, when a maintainer last confirmed this tool's sources at the issuer. See the sources ledger.
Status: version 1.0.0, core 0.1.0. See this tool in the verification report.
Checked against: 10 golden test vectors (download the test vectors, each with its source and tolerance). See how results are checked and every source.
Sources
- Landscape Assessment (LA): sampling and analysis methods, in FIREMON: Fire Effects Monitoring and Inventory System, Key, C. H., and Benson, N. C., USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-164-CD, pages LA-1 to LA-55. NBR and dNBR, and the burn-severity ranges offered as a starting point rather than a rule.
Terms
- NBR: normalized burn ratio
- The difference between near-infrared and the longer shortwave-infrared band over their sum. It falls sharply over recently burned ground. Source: Landscape Assessment (LA): sampling and analysis methods, in FIREMON: Fire Effects Monitoring and Inventory System
Experimental means this tool has not yet met the stable bar: at least 20 golden vectors, differential tests, and an independent worked example.