Satellite Monitoring of Postfire Normalized Burn Ratio Dynamics in Forests in the South of Central Siberia

Using MODIS data, burned areas were assessed for the southern regions of Central Siberia and postfire dynamics of the normalized burn ratio (NBR) were examined. The average burned area in the region was 230.1 ± 152.4 thousand ha. Between 2000 and 2023, a decreasing trend in the burned areas was observed. The proportion of stand-replacement fires in the region was low, accounting for about 9% of the total burned area. Postfire NBR dynamics were characterized using linear regression constructed from MODIS data averaged over the growing season. Increasing trends in the NBR postfire dynamics were observed for 76% of the burned area, while the absence of postfire recovery was observed for 24% of the burned area. Recovery of the NBR to prefire values occurs 12–13 years after pyrogenic impact for mixed and light coniferous forests in the region, and 14–15 years in the case of dark coniferous forests.