Fire near Kunene (AO)

17.04°S, 16.74°E · first detected on 19 October at 14:10

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 19 October at 14:10 to 22 October at 15:29, that is 3 days, through 85 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,374 ha.

Detected extent: 1,374 ha
Cumulative power: 910 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 21 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 85
Estimated emissions: 98 t of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 19 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 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
22 October at 19:12	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 18:22	38 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 18:12	41 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 18:05	32 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 18:02	43 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 17:52	42 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 17:50	38 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 17:49	35 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 17:42	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 17:34	50 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 17:34	42 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 17:32	28 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 17:22	28 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 17:19	86 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 17:19	74 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 17:12	40 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 17:04	96 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 17:04	50 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 17:02	27 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 16:52	53 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 16:49	186 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 16:49	240 MW	5	Met9
22 October at 16:42	225 MW	10	Met12
22 October at 16:34	564 MW	5	Met9
22 October at 16:34	667 MW	6	Met10
22 October at 16:32	326 MW	12	Met12
22 October at 16:22	351 MW	10	Met12
22 October at 16:19	546 MW	6	Met9
22 October at 16:19	666 MW	7	Met10
22 October at 16:12	194 MW	9	Met12
22 October at 16:04	205 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 16:04	112 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 16:02	92 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 15:52	256 MW	15	Met12
22 October at 15:49	262 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 15:49	200 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 15:42	232 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 15:34	156 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 15:34	125 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 15:32	260 MW	17	Met12
22 October at 15:29	190 MW	24	N
22 October at 15:22	367 MW	16	Met12
22 October at 15:19	293 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 15:19	267 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 15:12	318 MW	15	Met12
22 October at 15:04	253 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 15:04	223 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 15:02	332 MW	19	Met12
22 October at 14:53	303 MW	22	N21
22 October at 14:52	275 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 14:49	257 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 14:49	226 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 14:42	344 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 14:34	236 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 14:34	233 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 14:32	384 MW	13	Met12
22 October at 14:22	347 MW	15	Met12
22 October at 14:19	209 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 14:19	196 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 14:12	369 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 14:10	344 MW	28	N20
22 October at 14:04	150 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 14:04	140 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 14:02	302 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 13:52	358 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 13:49	281 MW	25	N
22 October at 13:49	171 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 13:49	215 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 13:42	429 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 13:34	290 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 13:34	278 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 13:32	443 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 13:22	635 MW	16	Met12
22 October at 13:19	509 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 13:19	463 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 13:12	1,066 MW	15	Met12
22 October at 13:04	344 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 13:04	890 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 13:02	691 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 12:52	1,455 MW	13	Met12
22 October at 12:49	412 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 12:49	944 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 12:42	1,104 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 12:34	874 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 12:34	410 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 12:32	811 MW	9	Met12
22 October at 12:22	585 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 12:19	479 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 12:19	419 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 12:12	884 MW	12	Met12
22 October at 12:04	885 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 12:04	660 MW	5	Met10
22 October at 12:02	1,575 MW	10	Met12
22 October at 11:52	758 MW	10	Met12
22 October at 11:49	516 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 11:49	477 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 11:42	525 MW	10	Met12
22 October at 11:34	517 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 11:34	535 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 11:32	472 MW	9	Met12
22 October at 11:22	937 MW	9	Met12
22 October at 11:19	294 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 11:19	344 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 11:12	303 MW	9	Met12
22 October at 11:04	48 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 11:02	46 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 10:52	24 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 17:02	10 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:52	24 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 16:42	18 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:40	17 MW	1	Aqua
20 October at 16:32	15 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:12	11 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 14:10	10 MW	1	N21

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.

Follow live

The map shows active fires in 3D, with smoke plumes, forecast wind, drop zones and the live position of water bombers tracked by ADS-B, anywhere in the world.

Open the fire map

Take the data of this fire with you

A ready-to-use archive, paid once, no subscription. It contains:

the satellite detections of the fire
the contours of its progression
the drops and the aircraft tracks
the lightning around it
the severity of the burned area, when computed

From €20.00 excl. VAT, six formats to choose from, link valid for 30 days.

Download the data

Pro subscribers: included. €49 excl. VAT a month, no commitment. The public map stays free. Discover GISFire Pro

© 2026 SARO · Gistin. All rights reserved. The interface, its presentation and the contents of GISFire are protected; reproducing or imitating them requires written permission. The source data remain the property of their respective producers, see the credits.

Legal notice · Privacy policy · · GISFire v2.4.2