Fire near Kunene (AO)

16.17°S, 16.85°E · first detected on 20 October at 13:51

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 20 October at 13:51 to 23 October at 16:54, that is 3 days, through 109 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,332 ha.

Detected extent: 1,332 ha
Cumulative power: 2,541 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 151 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 109
Estimated emissions: 3.6 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 20 October 2026 to 23 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).

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 6 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
23 October at 17:34	26 MW	1	Met10
23 October at 17:32	46 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 17:12	18 MW	1	Met12
23 October at 17:02	37 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 16:54	61 MW	3	Aqua
23 October at 16:52	43 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 16:42	14 MW	1	Met12
23 October at 16:34	132 MW	2	Met10
23 October at 16:32	43 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 16:22	118 MW	3	Met12
23 October at 16:19	67 MW	1	Met10
23 October at 16:12	52 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 15:52	147 MW	4	Met12
23 October at 15:12	85 MW	10	N
23 October at 14:36	105 MW	6	N21
23 October at 14:34	62 MW	1	Met9
23 October at 14:34	74 MW	1	Met10
23 October at 14:32	14 MW	1	Met12
23 October at 14:22	17 MW	1	Met12
23 October at 14:02	27 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 13:51	40 MW	7	N20
23 October at 13:22	63 MW	3	Met12
23 October at 13:12	72 MW	4	Met12
23 October at 13:04	88 MW	1	Met10
23 October at 13:02	80 MW	4	Met12
23 October at 12:52	118 MW	4	Met12
23 October at 12:49	239 MW	2	Met10
23 October at 12:49	217 MW	2	Met9
23 October at 12:42	379 MW	6	Met12
23 October at 12:34	100 MW	1	Met9
23 October at 12:32	52 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 12:22	83 MW	4	Met12
23 October at 12:12	60 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 12:02	20 MW	1	Met12
23 October at 11:52	29 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 18:32	16 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 18:22	27 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 18:20	100 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 18:19	100 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 18:12	16 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 18:05	130 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 18:04	178 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 18:02	50 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 17:52	131 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 17:50	284 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 17:49	408 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 17:42	25 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 17:35	46 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 17:34	75 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 17:32	12 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 17:22	12 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 17:20	45 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 17:19	106 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 17:04	83 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 17:04	84 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 17:02	38 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 16:52	41 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 16:49	112 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 16:49	158 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 16:42	72 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 16:34	154 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 16:34	219 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 16:32	194 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 16:22	338 MW	10	Met12
22 October at 16:19	264 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 16:19	337 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 16:12	40 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 16:04	82 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 16:04	140 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 16:02	100 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 15:52	64 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 15:49	109 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 15:49	41 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 15:42	88 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 15:34	438 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 15:34	422 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 15:32	535 MW	10	Met12
22 October at 15:30	416 MW	29	N
22 October at 15:22	160 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 15:19	133 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 15:19	185 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 15:12	254 MW	8	Met12
22 October at 15:04	342 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 15:04	439 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 15:02	239 MW	8	Met12
22 October at 14:53	317 MW	16	N21
22 October at 14:52	302 MW	9	Met12
22 October at 14:49	181 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 14:49	156 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 14:42	298 MW	8	Met12
22 October at 14:34	247 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 14:34	330 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 14:32	518 MW	8	Met12
22 October at 14:22	1,662 MW	8	Met12
22 October at 14:19	1,170 MW	7	Met9
22 October at 14:19	586 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 14:12	1,256 MW	9	Met12
22 October at 14:10	1,285 MW	23	N20
22 October at 14:04	642 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 14:04	306 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 14:02	518 MW	7	Met12
22 October at 13:52	310 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 13:49	122 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 13:49	216 MW	13	N
22 October at 13:49	159 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 13:42	150 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 13:32	73 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 13:22	114 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 13:12	82 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 13:02	76 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 12:52	82 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 12:42	123 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 12:32	88 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 12:22	109 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 12:12	51 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 12:02	41 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 11:52	80 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 11:49	221 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 11:49	297 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 11:42	191 MW	5	Met12

8 other fires near Kunene (AO)

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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