Frequently asked questions
What GISFire shows, where the data comes from, and how to read it without being misled.
A fuller explanation of the phenomenon and of its satellite detection is on the page Forest fire: understand, detect, follow.
Where can I see wildfires burning in France and Europe right now?
GISFire shows active fires detected by satellite across the whole world on an interactive map, within about three hours of acquisition. Each dot is a thermal anomaly recorded by NASA. The map is informational and is not an operational alert tool.
Does the map cover the whole world?
Yes, since September 2026. Satellite detections (VIIRS, MODIS and the geostationary Meteosat, GOES and Himawari), clustered fires and their extents, smoke plumes and the tracking of water bombers recognised by aircraft type cover the whole planet. Lightning strikes cover Europe, Africa, the Middle East (Meteosat) and the Americas (GOES); Asia and Oceania have no lightning imager in orbit. What still applies to France and Europe only is whatever depends on local sources: press reports, prefecture statements and state aircraft recognised by their callsign.
Where does the data come from?
Fire detections come from NASA's FIRMS service, in near real time. Two sensor families are used: VIIRS at 375-metre resolution, flown on Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20 and NOAA-21, and MODIS at 1 kilometre, flown on the Terra and Aqua satellites.
How often is the map updated?
GISFire refreshes its data every 30 minutes. However, around three hours elapse between the satellite passing over a fire and NASA publishing the detection. A detection on the map therefore describes a situation that is already a few hours old.
Why does a fire in the news not appear on the map?
Two reasons combine. Polar-orbiting satellites only pass over a given point two to four times a day, so a fire can start between two passes. On top of that comes a publication delay of about three hours. A wildfire can therefore be known to the media before it becomes visible here.
Does a red dot always mean a wildfire?
No. A dot on the map is a thermal anomaly seen from space, not necessarily a wildfire. Industrial flares, agricultural burns, furnaces and solar reflections also trigger detections. Clustering into events filters out part of these false alarms, but not all of them.
What does FRP mean?
FRP stands for Fire Radiative Power. It is expressed in megawatts and measures the energy radiated by combustion at the moment the satellite passes. It is an indicator of fire intensity, not a measurement of burned area.
What is the difference between a hot pixel and an event?
A hot pixel is a raw detection from a satellite sensor. An event groups several hot pixels close in space and time, using DBSCAN clustering: a 2,500-metre radius, at least three points, and a 48-hour sliding window. The event gives a synthetic view of the fire.
Why do old fires disappear, on GISFire as on FIRMS?
Because a satellite does not see a burned area: it sees heat. A detection flags a point that is radiating at the moment the satellite passes. Once the fire front has moved on and the ground has cooled, there is nothing left to detect, even though the terrain stays scorched for months. This is true of FIRMS and of every tool derived from it, GISFire included. By default the map shows the last 12 hours, to say what is burning now. To see a fire in full, pick the timeline's "All 7 d" mode: it stacks a whole week of detections instead of scrolling through them, like NASA's "7 DAYS" button. The actual burned area is the domain of official mapping (Copernicus EMS, Sentinel-2 burn scars), published a few days later.
How accurate are the detections?
Ground resolution is 375 metres for the VIIRS sensor and about 1 kilometre for MODIS. A pixel therefore indicates the presence of fire somewhere within an area of that size, without drawing its outline. Small fires and fires under cloud cover can escape detection.
How can I track the Canadairs and other water bombers?
GISFire shows the ADS-B positions of French Sécurité civile aircraft that broadcast their signal, via adsb.lol. Callsigns identify them: PELIC for the Canadair CL-415, MILAN for the Dash 8 Q400 MR, ABEL for the Air Tractor AT-802 leased each summer as reinforcement, DRAGON for helicopters, BENGALE and MORANE for coordination and observation.
Why do I see no aircraft at night?
Sécurité civile water bombers fly under visual flight rules and operate only in daylight, so no aircraft is visible at night. Military aircraft, which generally do not broadcast their ADS-B position, do not appear either, day or night.
What do the smoke and wind layers show?
The smoke layer uses NASA GIBS VIIRS True Color imagery at 250 metres: a single mosaic per day, published in the early afternoon; before that time, the previous day's mosaic is shown. The wind layer uses Open-Meteo and gives the wind at 10 metres, forecast up to 48 hours ahead.
Can I go back in time?
Yes. GISFire keeps a 30-day history of detections. A timeline replays fire activity over several windows: 1 hour, 12 hours, 24 hours or 7 days. A final mode, "All 7 d", stacks a full week of detections instead of scrolling through them: it is the one that shows the area a wildfire has covered.
Is it free?
Yes. GISFire is free and requires no account: the map with all its layers (fire detections, burnt areas, reported fires, drop activity, smoke plume, air quality, lightning, firebreaks, clouds and smoke, wind and aircraft tracking) and the 30-day history are available directly in the browser. Only downloading the data is paid, per download: 20 euros excl. VAT for one fire, 50 euros excl. VAT for an area over 31 days, 150 euros excl. VAT for a season, or at no extra charge with the GISFire Pro subscription at 49 euros excl. VAT a month. The service remains informational and does not replace official alert and emergency channels.
How do I download the data for a fire or an area?
From the map. The "Download the data" button opens on every fire page and on the map, where you draw the area you want (radius, rectangle or free outline). You then pick the period, the datasets (detections, fire contours, lightning, severity, aircraft tracks and drops) and the formats, and pay by card. The archive is built after payment. Buying does not require an account.
How much does the data cost, and in which formats?
Three prices, excluding VAT: 20 euros for one fire, 50 euros for an area over 31 days at most, 150 euros for an area over a season (245 days at most). The price doubles (40, 100 and 300 euros) when the order contains aerial data, that is aircraft drops or tracks. Six formats are available at no extra charge: GeoJSON, CSV, KML, Shapefile, GPX and XLSX. The VAT of the buyer's country is added at payment.
How long does the download link stay valid?
Thirty days. The archive, a ZIP file with a README, is sent by email and shown on the order page. After that the file is deleted and the link stops working, so it has to be saved before. If the archive cannot be built, the order is refunded.
What can I do with the data I bought?
Products computed by GISFire (detections grouped into fires, contours, severity) can be used internally and published with the credit "Source: GISFire, gisfire.saro.app". Reselling them is prohibited. Aircraft tracks and the drops deduced from them derive from adsb.lol data and are delivered under the ODbL 1.0 licence: free reuse and redistribution under the terms of that licence, with the credit "Contains adsb.lol data under ODbL". Other third-party data keeps its original licence, listed in the README file.
Do I need an account, and how do I sign in?
Not to view the map, and not to buy data. An account is for GISFire Pro and to find your purchases under "My account". Signing in goes through Clerk: password, code sent by email, or Google account, as you prefer.
What does GISFire Pro include?
A single subscription, at 49 euros excl. VAT a month with no commitment or 490 euros excl. VAT a year, with no free trial: 25 monitored zones (250,000 hectares), email, SMS and webhook alerts, API, five users, and data downloads included at no extra charge.
Full details on sources, methodology and limitations are gathered on the page Credits, sources and limits.
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© 2026 SARO · Gistin. All rights reserved. The interface, its presentation and the contents of GISFire are protected; reproducing or imitating them requires written permission. The source data remain the property of their respective producers, see the credits.