## 2 Study Area and Data  
The Cerrado is the largest continuous savanna area in the world and covers about 2 million km\({}^{2}\), ranging from 2.3\({}^{\circ}\)S to 24.7\({}^{\circ}\)S and 41.7\({}^{\circ}\)W to 60.1\({}^{\circ}\)W (Figure 1). It is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the world due to species richness and a high percentage of endemism, containing more than 10,000 cataloged plant species [30; 31], in which species display morphological and functional dependence from fire [32; 33; 34]. Several authors have shown that although fire-dependent ecosystems, such as the Cerrado, have evolved in the presence of recurrent natural fires and are dependent on them to maintain their biodiversity, high human pressure through frequent burning may have negative impacts on species diversity [35; 36]. Fire is commonly used in agricultural land management, affecting water flow and facilitating erosive processes [37], and promoting deterioration of physical and chemical soil characteristics, reducing its productive potential [38]. Recently, the human footprint was reported as being high to very high across the Cerrado, where only a few areas remain undisturbed [39]. Moreover, current climate change scenarios point towards an overall increase in fire frequency and intensity over a large area of the Cerrado [40]. According to [PERSON]'s classification [41], the Cerrado climate is Equatorial savanna with dry winter (Aw), characterized by dry winters and monthly mean temperatures above 18 \({}^{\circ}\)C. The biome has a marked dry season from May to September when the region becomes susceptible to fire events with an annual fire occurrence peak in September [7; 42; 43]. The region is considered a pyrobiome [33] because it is a fire-dependent ecosystem, where the majority of the species evolved in the presence of fire. According to the authors of [7; 40], the intra and inter-annual variabilities of fire in the Cerrado are closely related to precipitation variability, but it is worth emphasizing that human activity also plays a prominent role in fire dynamics in this region and cannot be disregarded [33; 34]. Two datasets were used to develop the algorithm: (1) PROBA-V near-infrared Top of Canopy data (NIR-TOC); and (2) VIIRS active fire data. The datasets span the period 1 August 2015 to 31 October 2015, corresponding to the driest months over the region [7; 40]. The PROBA-V satellite was launched on 6 May 2013 as a continuity mission to the Vegetation instruments aboard of Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) (1998-2014) [44]. Its orbit is sun-synchronous with an initial overpass time at about 10:45 a.m., with a 2295 km swath and daily near-global (90%) coverage [45]. PROBA-V cameras have a spatial resolution of 100 to 180 m in the central 500 km of the swath, and 350-660 m along the outer sections of the swath. Final products are available at resolutions of 100 m, 300 m, and 1 km, with level 3 geometric and radiometric corrections. Data consist of reflectance values at the Top of the Atmosphere (product S1-TOA) and Top of Canopy (S1 TOC product) in the Blue (0.464 um), Red (0.665 um), NIR (0.837 um), and shortwave infrared (SWIR; 1.603 um) channels. PROBA-V data are disseminated by European independent research and technology organisation called VITO [46], in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA). Solar zenith angles and viewing zenith angles data are also available, as well as information about radiometric quality and cloud/cloud shadow cover. The present study area is coincident with two PROBA-V tiles: X13Y08 and X13Y09 (Figure 1), covering an area of about 1.22 million km\({}^{2}\) of Cerrado, which represents 60% of the entire biome area. VIIRS active fire data, at 375 m spatial resolution, are used for collecting burned area spectral data training samples [47]. Active fires from VIIRS have the highest spatial resolution of currently global products, which makes them particularly suitable to detect small fires [48; 49].