FireCal

Harmonized MODIS + VIIRS burning activity calendar Loading… API docs
Metric
Values
Satellites
Time of day
Calendar
Area: whole dataset
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Timeline

Drag the handles of the small overview below the chart to choose the period for all views. Click a bar to show that period on the map. Hatched bars are converted from MODIS (before VIIRS); dotted lines mark new satellites.

Map

Draw a rectangle or polygon (toolbar on the left) to analyse an area. Zoomed out: density of hotspots. Zoomed in (or “Points”): the real detections, never converted.

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full range
Box:

Key figures for the selection

Area from the map, period from the timeline. Harmonized values are on VIIRS level.

What the data says

    Burning activity calendar

    0
    converted from MODIS outside range / no data

    Anomaly vs history

    Seasonal pattern

    Typical year: median of each calendar month over all other years (band = middle 50 %), compared with the latest year. Shows when the fire season is.

    Years compared

    Total per year with a linear trend over complete years. Hatched = mostly converted from MODIS, light = incomplete year.

    Harmonization check

    Raw MODIS and VIIRS, MODIS converted with the calibration factor, and the harmonized series with its uncertainty band. Converted MODIS should run close to VIIRS where both exist.

    Fire intensity (FRP)

    Share of detections per FRP class. VIIRS sees many small fires that MODIS misses.

    Local time of detection

    Satellites pass at fixed local times (Terra ~10:30 / 22:30, Aqua and VIIRS ~13:30 / 01:30). Peaks are overpasses, not fire behaviour.

    Confidence

    Share of low / nominal / high per sensor. Click “low” to include or exclude it everywhere.

    Satellites

    Detections per satellite. Click a bar to switch that satellite on or off (raw values and map).

    Where and when: space × time matrix

    Sort
    Colour

    Satellite timeline

    Raw detections per satellite and period (log colour). New satellites (S-NPP 2012, NOAA-20 2018, NOAA-21 2023) raise raw counts without more fire, which is why raw counts are not comparable over time. The orange frame is the selected period.

    Calibration factors (MODIS → VIIRS)

    Factor = VIIRS / MODIS in cells where both detect fire. The band (25–75 %) is the uncertainty used above. The region of the selected area is highlighted.

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