HR burn data and mapping fires
Posted: Sat 12 Apr, 2025 1:52 pmSomeone recently pointed me to an RFS website which listed planned HR burns in NSW.
I wasn't previously aware it existed and thought it was handy to easily see where they would be occurring.
https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-informa ... reductions
For those which are covered by national parks, the NPWS website should list them as an alert / closure, but I don't find the way they display alerts particularly informative.
The RFS website includes a table of information an interactive map of the boundaries. However, it's on a google maps base map which isn't overly useful for bushland areas.
I've now set up a process to capture and transform this data into a geospatial format and added it to http://www.bushwalkingmaps.com as a layer. You can find it under Overlays > Fire > RFS planned HR burns
Here's an overview of the layer for part of the Blue Mountains, over a topo basemap. Clicking on one of the boundaries shows some additional info like when the planned start and end dates are.
You can then combine with other layers like the Current bushfire boundaries to see what has actually been burnt. The DEA Hotspot shows the current/recent fire front which is also interesting.
In addition, the ESRI Sentinel 2 SWIR layer (under Other Basemaps) is useful for understanding the actual burnt area once finished. Below are examples from earlier in the year when a fire started in the Wollemi.
This layer is a little slow to load (so be patient) but is from a pair of satellites called sentinel 2. They have sensors which are good at picking up heat (SWIR = short wave infrared) so are great at picking up fires. Between the two satellites, they cover most spots on the earth every 5 days, and then it can take a day or so for the latest data to come through to the map, meaning the imagery you see might be up to 7 days old, but could be more recent. The other useful thing is that you can get an indication of severity of burn. The burn with a mapped burnt area isn't always going to be uniform, with different levels of intensity and some spots being missed completely.
Whilst on fire via satellite
Final mapped burnt area
Final burnt area via satellite
I wasn't previously aware it existed and thought it was handy to easily see where they would be occurring.
https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-informa ... reductions
For those which are covered by national parks, the NPWS website should list them as an alert / closure, but I don't find the way they display alerts particularly informative.
The RFS website includes a table of information an interactive map of the boundaries. However, it's on a google maps base map which isn't overly useful for bushland areas.
I've now set up a process to capture and transform this data into a geospatial format and added it to http://www.bushwalkingmaps.com as a layer. You can find it under Overlays > Fire > RFS planned HR burns
Here's an overview of the layer for part of the Blue Mountains, over a topo basemap. Clicking on one of the boundaries shows some additional info like when the planned start and end dates are.
You can then combine with other layers like the Current bushfire boundaries to see what has actually been burnt. The DEA Hotspot shows the current/recent fire front which is also interesting.
- linden-ridge-fire.png (290.11 KiB) Viewed 1526 times
In addition, the ESRI Sentinel 2 SWIR layer (under Other Basemaps) is useful for understanding the actual burnt area once finished. Below are examples from earlier in the year when a fire started in the Wollemi.
This layer is a little slow to load (so be patient) but is from a pair of satellites called sentinel 2. They have sensors which are good at picking up heat (SWIR = short wave infrared) so are great at picking up fires. Between the two satellites, they cover most spots on the earth every 5 days, and then it can take a day or so for the latest data to come through to the map, meaning the imagery you see might be up to 7 days old, but could be more recent. The other useful thing is that you can get an indication of severity of burn. The burn with a mapped burnt area isn't always going to be uniform, with different levels of intensity and some spots being missed completely.
Whilst on fire via satellite
Final mapped burnt area
Final burnt area via satellite