INTERCOMPARISON OF BURNED AREA PRODUCTS IN MATO GROSSO STATE

In 2010, total carbon (C) loss due to fires was responsible for approximately 78% of the Mato Grosso state emissions. As a result of the considerable contribution of fires to C emissions, it is important to properly account them for the fulfillment of climate change mitigation agreements. The first requirement for assessing the fire-related emissions is to quantify the affected area. The main objective of this work is to assess two burned area products (TREES-INPE and JRC), as a preliminary test, on Amazon biome within Mato Grosso state, for the year 2010. Total burned area differs between the products by only 9%. However, there is statistical evidence the products are not similar (p < 0.01). This difference was observed only on ‘Small’ polygons. Despite the similarities in the total burned area, the JRC product underestimates affected forests. Considering the magnitude of the differences between the products, our results show that JRC burned area product can potentially be used for monitoring the Amazon, as it is automatically generated.