Fire severity is a metric of the loss of biomass caused by fire. In collaboration with the NSW Rural Fire Service, DPE Remote Sensing & Regulatory Mapping team has developed a semi-automated approach to mapping fire extent and severity through a machine learning framework based on sentinel 2 and Landsat satellite imagery. Fire Extent and Severity Mapping for the 2016/17 fire year is based on Landsat 8 imagery. Fire Extent and Severity Mapping from the 2017/18 fire year onward is based on Sentinel 2 imagery. The statewide severity map has standardised classes to allow comparison of different fires across the landscape. The FESM severity classes include: unburnt, low severity (burnt understory, unburnt canopy), moderate severity (partial canopy scorch), high severity (complete canopy scorch, partial canopy consumption), extreme (full canopy consumption).

This dataset represents the 2016/17 fire year, including wildfires >100ha with fire start date between July 2016 and June 2017.