Fire near Kunene (AO)

17.06°S, 17.03°E · first detected on 20 October at 13:49

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 20 October at 13:49 to 23 October at 02:05, that is 3 days, through 105 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,641 ha.

Detected extent: 1,641 ha
Cumulative power: 1,438 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 68 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 105
Estimated emissions: 131 t of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 20 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 5 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 03:00	1 MW	1	N20
23 October at 02:39	1 MW	1	N
23 October at 02:05	1 MW	1	N21
22 October at 17:49	38 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 17:42	23 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 17:34	33 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 17:34	40 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 17:32	16 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 17:22	38 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 17:19	140 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 17:19	91 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 17:12	59 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 17:04	199 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 17:04	243 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 17:02	18 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:49	77 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 16:49	90 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 16:34	164 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 16:34	175 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 16:32	23 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:22	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:19	112 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 16:19	86 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 16:12	72 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 16:04	119 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 16:04	187 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 16:02	103 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 15:52	267 MW	9	Met12
22 October at 15:49	433 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 15:49	393 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 15:42	286 MW	12	Met12
22 October at 15:34	138 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 15:34	162 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 15:32	116 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 15:29	152 MW	15	N
22 October at 15:22	200 MW	10	Met12
22 October at 15:19	180 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 15:19	268 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 15:12	364 MW	12	Met12
22 October at 15:04	430 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 15:04	511 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 15:02	414 MW	12	Met12
22 October at 14:53	359 MW	16	N21
22 October at 14:52	337 MW	12	Met12
22 October at 14:49	398 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 14:49	196 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 14:42	570 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 14:34	597 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 14:34	949 MW	5	Met9
22 October at 14:32	840 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 14:22	414 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 14:19	418 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 14:19	496 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 14:12	390 MW	12	Met12
22 October at 14:10	370 MW	23	N20
22 October at 14:04	341 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 14:04	345 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 14:02	408 MW	15	Met12
22 October at 13:52	362 MW	13	Met12
22 October at 13:49	175 MW	11	N
22 October at 13:49	203 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 13:49	271 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 13:42	595 MW	14	Met12
22 October at 13:34	539 MW	4	Met9
22 October at 13:34	409 MW	4	Met10
22 October at 13:32	701 MW	11	Met12
22 October at 13:22	124 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 13:19	67 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 13:19	60 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:12	187 MW	7	Met12
22 October at 13:04	56 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:04	67 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 13:02	127 MW	7	Met12
22 October at 12:52	32 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 12:42	36 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 12:32	41 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 12:12	12 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 16:02	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 15:12	96 MW	11	N21
21 October at 14:32	26 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 14:27	113 MW	11	N20
21 October at 14:22	42 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:12	47 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:10	113 MW	10	N
21 October at 13:32	28 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:12	69 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 13:02	24 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:52	24 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:42	20 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:34	40 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 12:34	44 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 12:32	51 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 12:22	85 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 12:19	52 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 12:12	102 MW	7	Met12
21 October at 12:04	82 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 12:02	68 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 11:52	80 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 11:49	96 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 11:42	104 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 11:34	92 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 11:32	67 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 11:22	101 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 11:19	104 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 11:12	115 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 11:04	107 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 11:02	57 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 10:52	70 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 10:49	49 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 10:42	34 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 10:34	34 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 10:32	25 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 10:22	39 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 10:19	34 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 10:12	37 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 10:02	22 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 09:52	23 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 09:42	25 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 09:34	29 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 09:32	24 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 09:22	15 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 09:19	28 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 09:12	18 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 08:52	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 08:42	10 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 08:22	10 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 17:02	33 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 16:52	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:40	10 MW	1	Aqua
20 October at 14:49	12 MW	1	N20
20 October at 13:49	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.

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