Fire near Namentenga (BF)

12.75°N, 0.30°W · first detected on 21 October at 14:38

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 21 October at 14:38 to 22 October at 15:59, through 64 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,711 ha.

Detected extent: 1,711 ha
Cumulative power: 947 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 215 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 64
Estimated emissions: 1.0 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 21 October 2026 to 21 October 2026. An order-of-magnitude estimate from GFAS (ECMWF, Copernicus CAMS): it also counts neighbouring fires in the same cell. Contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information (2026). Published data stop on 21 October 2026.

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 pixel counts in full (375 m for VIIRS, 1 km for MODIS) 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's footprint and loads only its detections. The timeline below covers the period in which satellites saw it, from the first to the last detection, with twelve hours before and twenty-four after; the ticks on the bar mark the emergency services' announcements that fall within it. The cursor opens on the most powerful pass, and playback replays the whole fire in about thirty seconds. “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. “24 h” stacks twenty-four hours : a fire stays visible between two satellite passes, which come two to four times a day. 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 4 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
22 October at 17:16	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:16	12 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 15:59	17 MW	7	N20
22 October at 15:40	24 MW	6	N
22 October at 15:22	67 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 15:07	59 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 15:06	27 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 15:05	24 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 15:01	35 MW	3	N21
22 October at 13:22	55 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 13:07	55 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 12:07	107 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 12:06	41 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 12:05	14 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 11:37	50 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 11:07	37 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 11:06	14 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 20:26	12 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 20:23	83 MW	3	Met10
21 October at 20:16	26 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 20:08	27 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 20:06	43 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 19:23	28 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 19:16	18 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 19:08	43 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 19:08	68 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 19:06	19 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 18:53	90 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 18:53	58 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 18:38	140 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 18:38	207 MW	4	Met10
21 October at 18:26	61 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 18:25	15 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 18:23	307 MW	5	Met10
21 October at 18:08	284 MW	4	Met10
21 October at 17:56	54 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:53	522 MW	7	Met10
21 October at 17:46	112 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 17:45	238 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 17:38	689 MW	8	Met10
21 October at 17:36	276 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 17:35	284 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 17:26	35 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:25	303 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 17:24	488 MW	8	Aqua
21 October at 17:23	967 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 17:23	841 MW	6	Met10
21 October at 17:16	93 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 17:15	150 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 17:08	695 MW	5	Met10
21 October at 17:06	14 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:05	413 MW	9	Met12
21 October at 16:56	42 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 16:55	300 MW	8	Met12
21 October at 16:53	577 MW	4	Met10
21 October at 16:46	236 MW	7	Met12
21 October at 16:45	65 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 16:38	553 MW	5	Met10
21 October at 16:38	233 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 16:36	145 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 16:35	328 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 16:26	337 MW	8	Met12
21 October at 16:25	197 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 16:23	449 MW	5	Met10
21 October at 16:22	190 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 16:18	164 MW	9	N20
21 October at 16:16	96 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 16:15	25 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 16:08	257 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 16:08	462 MW	4	Met10
21 October at 16:07	75 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 16:06	247 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 16:05	38 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:57	159 MW	17	N
21 October at 15:56	111 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 15:55	25 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 15:52	166 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 15:46	59 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:45	79 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:37	117 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 15:36	64 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:35	121 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:26	60 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:25	62 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:23	87 MW	14	N21
21 October at 15:22	64 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 15:16	12 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 15:15	48 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:07	33 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 15:06	25 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:56	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 14:55	28 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 14:52	77 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 14:38	8 MW	1	N20

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