Fire severity is a metric of the loss of biomass caused by fire. In collaboration with the NSW Rural Fire Service, the department's Remote Sensing & Regulatory Mapping team has developed a semi-automated approach to mapping fire extent and severity through a machine learning framework based on satellite imagery.

The method uses 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).

Here we provide statewide historical severity mapping of fires >100ha for the 2012-13 fire year, which is based on Landsat satellite imagery (30m pixels). From 2016/17 to the current fire year is covered in the statewide FESM data, which is based on Sentinel 2 satellite imagery (10m pixels).