An alternative spectral index for rapid fire severity assessments

► Fire severity is commonly assessed by the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR). ► The dNBR is impeded over active fires and by image normalization constraints. ► A single date SWIR-MIR index (SMI) is presented and compared with the dNBR approach. ► Results reveal a similar performance of both approaches. ► The SMI has big potential for post-fire effects applications.