Burned area (BA) was classified using in-house algorithms, described in detail by Woźniak and Aleksandrowicz (2019). This method utilizes images acquired before and after fire events. All MODIS surface reflectance products MOD09A1 (tiles 24_03 and 25_03) for the period 2002 – 2021 were investigated. Since the study area is obscured by clouds or covered with snow for most of the year, only images from the time window that maximized the number of available frames across most years were selected. Hence, only images acquired between the 145th and 241st day of each year (corresponding to the spring-summer period) were retained for further processing.