The active fire map is a service offered and produced by NASA FIRMS based on the data collected by the MODIS/VIIRS sensors on board the satellites. The information collected is processed quickly and made available to the public within a few hours. With all this, we can know in a fairly objective way the approximate place where apoint of fire and the magnitude of it.
NASA's Fires for Resource Management Information System (FIRMS), created by the U.S., distributes active fire data in near real-time, within 3 hours of satellite observation of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Radiometer Arrayof Visible Infrared Imaging (VIIRS). MODIS is a sensor incorporated into the TERRA and AQUA satellites, which works with a resolution of one pixel per 1 km. Instead, VIIRS goes aboard the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP), improves spatial resolution to 375 m and its noct performanceurn is much larger.
More information at: https://earthdata.nasa.gov/firms
On the other hand, the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) within the Copernicus project of the European Union, collects the data provided by NASA FIRMS and applies methodologies to obtainan improved product. In this aspect a visualization of the data by dates is obtained, filtering possible errors and adds the rapid damage assessment (RDA) obtaining the mapping of the burned areas.
Active fire information is normally updated 6 times a day and is available in EFFIS within 2-3 hours of acquiringmODIS/VIIRS images.
More information at: https://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Active fire detection: https://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/about-effis/technical-background/active-fire-detection
Rapid Damage Assessment (RDA): https://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/about-effis/technical-background/rapid-damage-assessment
Active fires are located based on the so-called thermal anomalies they produce. Algorithms compare the temperature of a potential fire to the temperature of the surrounding land cover; if the temperature difference is above a certain threshold, the potential fire is confirmed as an active fire or “hot spot”.
When interpreting the fires shown on the map, the following should be taken into account:
- The location of the hotspot on the mapis only accurate within the spatial accuracy of the sensor.
- Some fires may be small or obscured by smoke or clouds and go unnoticed.
- Satellites also detect other heat sources (not all hot spots are fires).
- The legend of the maps can be done withsultar by pressing Lφ on the layer selector
