# Generated by scripts/sync_indices.py from Awesome Spectral Indices (MIT).
# DO NOT EDIT BY HAND. Edit overlays (_asi_*.yaml, _folia_*.yaml) and re-run.
# Spec: docs/spec/SPECTRAL_INDICES.md
slug: nbr
name: Normalized Burn Ratio
short_name: NBR
formula: (N - S2) / (N + S2)
bands:
- N
- S2
domain: burn
theme: hazards
concepts:
- fire
rank: 2
display:
  colormap: magma
  range:
  - -1.0
  - 1.0
  reverse: true
pedagogy:
  description: 'Normalized Burn Ratio. Contrasts near-infrared (high in healthy

    vegetation) with shortwave-infrared band 2 (high in dry, charred,

    and ash surfaces). The de-facto USGS and EU EFFIS burn-severity

    standard, especially as the dNBR pre/post difference.

    '
  use_cases:
  - Burn-severity mapping (dNBR) after wildfire events
  - Post-fire vegetation recovery tracking over multi-year time series
  - Discriminating active-fire from cloud and shadow in compositing pipelines
  limitations:
  - Sensitive to soil moisture and surface water — apply a water/cloud mask first
  - Single-date NBR alone does not separate burn from bare soil or dry sparse vegetation — use dNBR
  - Saturates in very severe burns where vegetation is fully consumed — BAI and BAIS2 give complementary signal
  interpretation:
    high: Healthy, unburned vegetation
    mid: Low-severity burn or sparse vegetation
    low: Moderate-to-high burn severity
    negative: High-severity burn, ash, bare scorched soil
  authoritative_sources:
  - label: Key & Benson 2006 (USGS FIREMON)
    url: https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr0211
  - label: NV5 ENVI — Burn Indices
    url: https://www.nv5geospatialsoftware.com/docs/BurnIndices.html
  - label: Index Database · NBR
    url: https://www.indexdatabase.de/db/i-single.php?id=53
references:
- url: https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr0211
date_of_addition: '2021-04-07'
contributor: https://github.com/davemlz
platforms:
- Sentinel-2
- Landsat-OLI
- Landsat-TM
- Landsat-ETM+
- MODIS
source:
  authority: awesome-spectral-indices
  commit_sha: 7f28d3fe68af1287f7449faf0685659e73197212
  upstream_id: NBR
match_tags:
- burn
- n
- normalized
- ratio
- s2
status: stable