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Early global estimates of carbon emissions from biomass burning were based on empirical assumptions of fire return interval in different biomes in the 1980s. Since then, significant improvements of spaceborne remote sensing sensors have resulted in an increasing number of derived products characterizing the detection of active fire or the subsequent burned area (GFED, MODIS MCD45A1, L3JRC, Globcarbon, GBS, GLOBSCAR, GBA2000). When coupled with global land cover and vegetation models allowing for spatially explicit fuel biomass estimates, the use of these products helps to yield important information about the spatial and the temporal variability of emission estimates. The availability of multi-year products (>10 years) leads to a better understanding of uncertainties in addition to increasing accuracy. We surveyed a wide range of users of global fire data products whilst also undertaking a review of …