Sense4Fire datasets

As part of the Sense4Fire project, fuel and fire emission products were made available for the Amazon/Cerrado, southern Africa, the eastern Sahel, southern Europe, and a test area in Siberia. The datasets involve the use of different input datasets for burnt area and different configurations of the GFA-S4F, TUD-S4F and KNMI-S5p approaches. Below you find an overview about the Sense4Fire datasets, and a list of all available output variables.

If you want to use the datasets and you are unsure which one to use, please get in contact with Matthias Forkel.

Browse the full folder structure of all datasets.

The Sense4Fire datasets were delivered in different versions of the database:

• Database version 4 (DBv4): Near-real time and high-resolution emissions for Africa. The fourth version of the Sense4Fire database provides advanced methodologies for two study regions in Africa, namely southern Africa and the Sahel. DBv4 provides refined setups of GFA-S4F and TUD-S4F to provide fire emission estimates with low latency, i.e. as provisional (PRV) analysis up to the previous year or as near-real time (NRT), here defined as providing fire emission estimates with a latency of <1 month. In addition, DBv4 includes an unprecedented high resolution fire emission dataset based on the TUD-S4F approach with a high spatial resolution (HR, 20 m). The datasets of DBv4 were published during 2026. 
• Database version 3 (DBv3): In 2024, the Amazon experienced an exceptional extreme fire season. During this season, the Sense4Fire project provided updates of fire emissions from the GFA-S4F and TUD-S4F approaches. The purpose of DBv3 – published consecutively during the second half of 2024 – was to demonstrate the near-real time capabilities of the Sense4Fire approaches in providing estimates of fire emissions. Results are available for the Amazon/Cerrado study region for the year 2024 and were published in 2024 DBv3 forms the foundation of the results published in  de Laat et al. (2026).
• Database version 2 (DBv2): The Sense4Fire baseline. The second version of the Sense4Fire Database was published in October 2023 with results for the Amazon/Cerrado, southern Africa, Europe, and Siberian study regions. For TUD-S4F, the products and factorial experiments in DBv2 are the baseline products for all study regions. The results for the Amazon/Cerrado study region in DBv2 are  the results published in Forkel et al. (2025).

• Database version 1 (DBv1): Initial developments. The first version of the Sense4Fire Database was made available in May 2023 and provided the first products for the Amazon, southern Africa, Europe, and Siberian study regions. The KNMI-S5p dataset remains the same in version 02 of the Experimental Database. The GFA-S4F datasets for southern Africa, Siberia and Europe remain the same in version 02 of the database. The highly experimental TUD-S4F datasets in DBv1 are deprecated. Users should refer for TUD-S4F results in DBv2.

Amazon and Cerrado

Near-real time analysis of the Amazon 2024 fire season (Database version 3, DBv3)

The Amazon experienced an exceptional extreme fire season in 2024. During this season, the Sense4Fire project provided updates of fire emissions from the GFA-S4F and TUD-S4F approaches. The purpose of DBv3 – published consecutively during the second half of 2024 – was to demonstrate the near-real time capabilities of the Sense4Fire approaches in providing estimates of fire emissions. Results are available for the Amazon/Cerrado study region for the year 2024. DBv3 forms the foundation of the results published in de Laat et al. (2026).

Southern Africa

The region is defined from 10°E – 30°E and 5°S – 25°S.

Sahel

The region is defined from 23°E – 43°E and 3° – 15°N.

Southern Europe

The region is defined from 10°W – 29.5°E and 34.5°N – 49°N.

Siberia

The region is defined from 132°E - 138°E and 60°N - 71°N

Definition of output variables

The following variables are available from Sense4Fire: