A new method is described for calculating the amount of biomass burned, its type and location, and the time of burning. Active fires in 1989 were detected using daily advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) satellite imagery. The fire count was calibrated to area burned using a stratified sample of multitemporal multispectral scanner (MSS) imagery. The calibration factor is strongly dependent on mean individual fire area, which is in turn strongly related to cumulative normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The best available vegetation maps for southern hemisphere Africa were combined and reclassified into functional vegetation types with a similar fire ecology. The fuel load was calculated in each 0.5° × 0.5° grid square using a production model specific for each vegetation type, driven by monthly rainfall data. Multiyear fuel accumulation, herbivory, and decay were accounted for. Combustion completeness was modeled as a function of fuel mass and fuel type, established from field-collected data. Keywords: Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Biosphere/atmosphere interactions, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Aerosols and particles, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Pollution-urban and regional, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Troposphere-composition and chemistry.