Fire near Kigoma (TZ)

4.13°S, 30.92°E · first detected on 6 September at 10:35

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 6 September at 10:35 to 6 September at 13:34, through 40 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 599 ha.

Detected extent: 599 ha
Cumulative power: 1,373 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 237 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 40

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 3 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
6 September at 19:06	11 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 19:05	73 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 19:04	61 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 18:54	34 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 18:51	28 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 18:50	41 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 18:44	24 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 18:36	44 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 18:21	115 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 18:20	157 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 18:14	114 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 18:06	270 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 18:05	96 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 18:04	116 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 17:54	40 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 17:36	33 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 17:35	28 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 17:34	20 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:20	14 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 17:14	14 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:05	57 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 16:05	66 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 16:05	185 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 16:04	100 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 15:54	30 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 15:50	215 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 15:50	128 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 15:44	178 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 15:35	383 MW	8	Met9
6 September at 15:35	358 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 15:34	148 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 15:24	26 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 15:20	116 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 15:20	83 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 15:14	233 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 15:05	391 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 15:05	404 MW	6	Met9
6 September at 15:04	132 MW	2	Aqua
6 September at 15:04	311 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 14:54	221 MW	6	Met12
6 September at 14:50	104 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 14:44	63 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 14:35	310 MW	6	Met9
6 September at 14:35	63 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 14:34	259 MW	6	Met12
6 September at 14:24	448 MW	11	Met12
6 September at 14:20	206 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 14:20	510 MW	9	Met9
6 September at 14:19	97 MW	4	N21
6 September at 14:14	116 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 14:05	87 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 14:05	323 MW	6	Met9
6 September at 14:04	39 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 13:54	124 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 13:50	394 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 13:50	333 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 13:44	46 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 13:35	231 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 13:35	274 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 13:34	271 MW	42	N20
6 September at 13:34	63 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 13:24	204 MW	6	Met12
6 September at 13:20	317 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 13:20	227 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 13:17	443 MW	31	N
6 September at 13:14	343 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 13:05	556 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 13:05	383 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 13:04	96 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 12:54	849 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 12:50	1,419 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 12:50	1,837 MW	9	Met9
6 September at 12:44	1,251 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 12:38	1,377 MW	22	N21
6 September at 12:35	1,402 MW	8	Met10
6 September at 12:35	1,666 MW	10	Met9
6 September at 12:34	806 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 12:24	1,310 MW	10	Met12
6 September at 12:20	1,181 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 12:20	1,315 MW	8	Met9
6 September at 12:14	345 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 12:05	1,377 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 12:05	959 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 12:04	984 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 11:54	715 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 11:50	495 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 11:50	358 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 11:44	169 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 11:35	486 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 11:35	666 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 11:34	358 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 11:14	94 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 11:05	51 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 11:04	57 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 10:54	90 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 10:50	101 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 10:50	216 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 10:44	59 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 10:35	41 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 10:34	27 MW	2	Met12

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