Fire near Kunene (AO)

16.70°S, 17.02°E · first detected on 6 September at 01:44

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 6 September at 01:44 to 6 September at 16:40, through 160 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 2,653 ha.

Detected extent: 2,653 ha
Cumulative power: 4,218 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 174 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 160

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 20:19	25 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 20:12	11 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 20:04	31 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 20:04	28 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 19:49	31 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 19:49	28 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 19:34	26 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 19:34	28 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 19:19	33 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 19:19	31 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 19:04	39 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 19:04	40 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 19:02	11 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:49	41 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 18:49	44 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 18:34	105 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 18:34	135 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 18:22	18 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:19	159 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 18:19	138 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 18:12	37 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:04	259 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 18:04	341 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 18:03	75 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 17:53	205 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 17:49	508 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 17:49	545 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 17:43	214 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 17:34	1,174 MW	10	Met10
6 September at 17:34	863 MW	6	Met9
6 September at 17:33	634 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 17:23	649 MW	10	Met12
6 September at 17:19	1,254 MW	9	Met9
6 September at 17:19	1,594 MW	11	Met10
6 September at 17:13	603 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 17:04	814 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 17:04	969 MW	9	Met10
6 September at 17:03	348 MW	6	Met12
6 September at 16:53	203 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 16:49	1,153 MW	9	Met10
6 September at 16:49	924 MW	8	Met9
6 September at 16:43	484 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 16:40	548 MW	16	Aqua
6 September at 16:34	643 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 16:34	729 MW	7	Met10
6 September at 16:33	307 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 16:23	734 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 16:19	815 MW	7	Met10
6 September at 16:19	800 MW	8	Met9
6 September at 16:13	1,126 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 16:04	1,558 MW	8	Met10
6 September at 16:04	1,457 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 16:03	1,300 MW	22	Met12
6 September at 15:53	862 MW	15	Met12
6 September at 15:49	873 MW	8	Met9
6 September at 15:49	909 MW	8	Met10
6 September at 15:43	746 MW	11	Met12
6 September at 15:34	764 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 15:34	938 MW	9	Met10
6 September at 15:33	257 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 15:23	288 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 15:19	670 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 15:19	756 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 15:13	664 MW	17	Met12
6 September at 15:12	759 MW	62	N20
6 September at 15:04	1,862 MW	10	Met10
6 September at 15:04	1,773 MW	8	Met9
6 September at 15:03	1,524 MW	19	Met12
6 September at 14:53	2,617 MW	31	Met12
6 September at 14:51	2,349 MW	70	N
6 September at 14:49	2,182 MW	12	Met9
6 September at 14:49	1,749 MW	10	Met10
6 September at 14:43	2,526 MW	21	Met12
6 September at 14:34	1,642 MW	10	Met9
6 September at 14:34	1,311 MW	9	Met10
6 September at 14:33	1,450 MW	22	Met12
6 September at 14:23	820 MW	19	Met12
6 September at 14:19	987 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 14:19	724 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 14:17	1,162 MW	49	N21
6 September at 14:13	1,004 MW	21	Met12
6 September at 14:04	930 MW	9	Met9
6 September at 14:04	741 MW	7	Met10
6 September at 14:03	744 MW	22	Met12
6 September at 13:53	936 MW	20	Met12
6 September at 13:49	1,227 MW	6	Met9
6 September at 13:49	1,212 MW	8	Met10
6 September at 13:43	551 MW	16	Met12
6 September at 13:34	1,464 MW	9	Met9
6 September at 13:34	1,061 MW	7	Met10
6 September at 13:33	1,141 MW	23	Met12
6 September at 13:23	741 MW	19	Met12
6 September at 13:19	999 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 13:19	1,075 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 13:13	1,088 MW	20	Met12
6 September at 13:04	1,525 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 13:04	1,099 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 13:03	913 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 12:53	1,104 MW	15	Met12
6 September at 12:49	1,613 MW	7	Met9
6 September at 12:49	1,191 MW	8	Met10
6 September at 12:43	410 MW	10	Met12
6 September at 12:34	589 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 12:34	679 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 12:33	458 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 12:23	485 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 12:19	732 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 12:19	584 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 12:13	576 MW	11	Met12
6 September at 12:04	517 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 12:04	546 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 12:03	329 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 11:53	246 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 11:49	240 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 11:49	309 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 11:34	53 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 11:34	57 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 11:33	27 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 11:23	25 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 11:19	52 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 11:19	54 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 10:43	14 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 01:44	1 MW	2	N21

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