Fire near Bandundu (CD)

6.97°S, 17.13°E · first detected on 6 September at 14:19

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 6 September at 14:19 to 8 September at 16:18, that is 2 days, through 56 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,102 ha.

Detected extent: 1,102 ha
Cumulative power: 1,974 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 182 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 56

These four figures cover the polar orbits alone, the ones that measure an area. The pass table below also counts geostationary detections, more frequent but too coarse for geometry, and its power column sums a whole pass where the peak above is that of a single pixel.

“Detected extent” is not “burned area”: it is the union of the ground footprints of the satellite pixels, and a 375 m pixel counts in full even when only a forest edge is burning. Compared with press figures it is in practice one and a half to three times the area reported. Detections taken at the edge of the scan swath, too coarse to measure anything at all, are excluded. These figures come from thermal detection and are not an official assessment: only the emergency services and the competent authorities are authoritative.

Replay how the fire spread

The map is framed on this fire and loads only its detections. The timeline below covers the whole known life of the fire, from the first trace, satellite or report, to the last announcement from emergency services, and the ticks on the bar mark those announcements. Detections often stop before containment: a fire stops radiating once it stops spreading, which is exactly when it is declared contained. “1 h” shows what is burning within an hour of the chosen moment : the map then follows the power curve below and empties when it falls. “12 h” stacks twelve hours , as the home map does, where stacking avoids an empty screen between two satellite passes. Both are true, but they say different things.

How the radiative power evolved

One point per satellite pass: the sum of the fire radiative power measured over the fire. This is the curve that says whether the fire eased off or picked up again, which no cumulative figure shows. The window covers 5 days; beyond that, clustering would merge two successive fires in the same place.

Fire dynamics

Loading history…

Satellite passes in detail

Pass	Power summed over the pass	Detections	Sensor
9 September at 01:34	127 MW	2	Met12
8 September at 20:35	116 MW	2	Met10
8 September at 20:34	56 MW	2	Met12
8 September at 20:24	30 MW	2	Met12
8 September at 20:20	66 MW	2	Met10
8 September at 20:14	66 MW	3	Met12
8 September at 19:36	27 MW	1	Met9
8 September at 19:35	49 MW	2	Met10
8 September at 19:34	20 MW	1	Met12
8 September at 19:21	21 MW	1	Met9
8 September at 19:20	17 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 19:05	248 MW	5	Met10
8 September at 19:05	129 MW	3	Met9
8 September at 19:04	179 MW	3	Met12
8 September at 18:54	407 MW	6	Met12
8 September at 18:50	380 MW	6	Met9
8 September at 18:50	344 MW	8	Met10
8 September at 18:44	706 MW	12	Met12
8 September at 18:35	352 MW	8	Met9
8 September at 18:35	902 MW	10	Met10
8 September at 18:34	801 MW	19	Met12
8 September at 18:24	322 MW	8	Met12
8 September at 18:20	923 MW	10	Met10
8 September at 18:20	552 MW	9	Met9
8 September at 18:14	704 MW	12	Met12
8 September at 18:05	528 MW	10	Met10
8 September at 18:05	383 MW	7	Met9
8 September at 18:04	256 MW	10	Met12
8 September at 17:54	196 MW	8	Met12
8 September at 17:50	331 MW	3	Met9
8 September at 17:50	46 MW	2	Met10
8 September at 17:44	10 MW	1	Met12
8 September at 17:35	534 MW	5	Met10
8 September at 17:35	337 MW	2	Met9
8 September at 17:34	268 MW	7	Met12
8 September at 17:24	199 MW	4	Met12
8 September at 17:20	139 MW	1	Met9
8 September at 17:20	233 MW	5	Met10
8 September at 17:14	146 MW	4	Met12
8 September at 17:05	24 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 17:04	27 MW	2	Met12
8 September at 16:54	47 MW	3	Met12
8 September at 16:44	54 MW	4	Met12
8 September at 16:35	172 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 16:34	83 MW	4	Met12
8 September at 16:24	172 MW	7	Met12
8 September at 16:20	67 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 16:18	402 MW	9	Aqua
8 September at 16:14	445 MW	11	Met12
8 September at 16:05	77 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 16:04	162 MW	6	Met12
8 September at 15:54	34 MW	2	Met12
8 September at 15:44	26 MW	2	Met12
8 September at 15:34	11 MW	1	Met12
8 September at 15:24	125 MW	5	Met12
8 September at 15:20	773 MW	2	Met9
8 September at 15:14	105 MW	4	Met12
8 September at 15:05	2,386 MW	6	Met9
8 September at 15:04	108 MW	7	Met12
8 September at 14:54	1,481 MW	18	Met12
8 September at 14:50	2,061 MW	6	Met9
8 September at 14:50	1,939 MW	8	Met10
8 September at 14:44	296 MW	9	Met12
8 September at 14:38	373 MW	32	N20
8 September at 14:35	94 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 14:34	56 MW	4	Met12
8 September at 14:24	250 MW	9	Met12
8 September at 14:20	1,490 MW	4	Met9
8 September at 14:20	135 MW	2	Met10
8 September at 14:19	1,421 MW	37	N
8 September at 14:14	284 MW	9	Met12
8 September at 14:05	2,014 MW	9	Met9
8 September at 14:05	243 MW	2	Met10
8 September at 14:04	194 MW	7	Met12
8 September at 13:54	448 MW	11	Met12
8 September at 13:50	898 MW	7	Met9
8 September at 13:50	494 MW	5	Met10
8 September at 13:44	303 MW	12	Met12
8 September at 13:42	435 MW	11	N21
8 September at 13:35	916 MW	7	Met9
8 September at 13:35	818 MW	6	Met10
8 September at 13:34	450 MW	9	Met12
8 September at 13:24	51 MW	3	Met12
8 September at 13:20	82 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 13:14	60 MW	3	Met12
8 September at 13:05	84 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 12:50	83 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 12:35	82 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 12:20	79 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 12:05	71 MW	1	Met10
8 September at 11:50	121 MW	2	Met10
8 September at 11:35	67 MW	1	Met10
7 September at 17:04	11 MW	1	Met12
7 September at 16:54	11 MW	1	Met12
7 September at 16:44	33 MW	2	Met12
7 September at 16:05	39 MW	1	Met10
7 September at 15:54	16 MW	1	Met12
7 September at 15:50	44 MW	1	Met10
7 September at 15:50	43 MW	1	Met9
7 September at 15:35	43 MW	1	Met9
7 September at 15:35	57 MW	1	Met10
7 September at 15:34	35 MW	3	Met12
7 September at 15:24	27 MW	2	Met12
7 September at 15:20	63 MW	1	Met10
7 September at 15:20	49 MW	1	Met9
7 September at 15:14	72 MW	4	Met12
7 September at 15:05	157 MW	3	Met9
7 September at 15:05	273 MW	5	Met10
7 September at 15:04	155 MW	5	Met12
7 September at 14:55	207 MW	12	N20
7 September at 14:54	143 MW	7	Met12
7 September at 14:50	171 MW	3	Met9
7 September at 14:50	264 MW	6	Met10
7 September at 14:44	49 MW	4	Met12
7 September at 14:36	187 MW	24	N
7 September at 14:35	116 MW	2	Met9
7 September at 14:35	94 MW	2	Met10
7 September at 14:34	31 MW	2	Met12
7 September at 14:24	17 MW	1	Met12
7 September at 14:20	176 MW	3	Met9
7 September at 14:14	58 MW	4	Met12
7 September at 14:05	157 MW	3	Met9
7 September at 14:05	48 MW	1	Met10
7 September at 14:04	137 MW	7	Met12
7 September at 14:00	161 MW	19	N21
7 September at 13:50	35 MW	1	Met10
7 September at 13:35	45 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 16:42	6 MW	1	Aqua
6 September at 14:55	44 MW	7	N
6 September at 14:54	17 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 14:19	20 MW	5	N21

8 other fires near Bandundu (CD)

Separate fires, apart in time or in space, not pieces of this one. A single municipality can have several over one summer, and a forest massif often covers more than a hundred square kilometres.

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