Fire near Kwando-Kubango (AO)

14.39°S, 17.77°E · first detected on 23 September at 13:57

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 23 September at 13:57 to 22 October at 16:16, that is 29 days, through 3,736 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 59,676 ha.

Detected extent: 59,676 ha
Cumulative power: 65,190 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 521 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 3,736
Estimated emissions: 7.5 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 5 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 30 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 15:43	63 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 15:33	21 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 15:31	50 MW	5	N
22 October at 14:53	16 MW	3	N21
22 October at 14:13	13 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 14:10	117 MW	12	N20
22 October at 14:04	60 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:49	35 MW	3	N
22 October at 13:43	17 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 13:19	54 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:04	55 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 12:53	12 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 12:49	116 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 10:49	52 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 10:34	50 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 16:13	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 15:43	25 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:14	65 MW	3	N21
21 October at 15:13	56 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:03	40 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:29	74 MW	15	N20
21 October at 14:10	55 MW	8	N
21 October at 13:32	27 MW	2	N21
21 October at 12:53	112 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 12:33	37 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 11:43	15 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 09:49	20 MW	1	Met10
20 October at 16:40	16 MW	2	Aqua
20 October at 16:13	33 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 16:03	12 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 15:53	35 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 15:50	96 MW	1	Met9
20 October at 15:49	187 MW	2	Met10
20 October at 15:43	128 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 15:34	314 MW	3	Met9
20 October at 15:34	267 MW	2	Met10
20 October at 15:33	88 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 15:23	335 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 15:19	136 MW	1	Met9
20 October at 15:13	182 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 14:53	45 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 14:46	136 MW	11	N20
20 October at 14:27	140 MW	21	N
20 October at 13:51	127 MW	10	N21
20 October at 13:43	45 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 15:08	20 MW	3	N20
19 October at 14:49	88 MW	17	N
19 October at 14:10	141 MW	12	N21
18 October at 17:01	51 MW	3	Aqua
18 October at 15:25	17 MW	2	N20
18 October at 15:06	83 MW	8	N
18 October at 14:29	80 MW	6	N21
18 October at 13:47	32 MW	4	N20
17 October at 14:49	13 MW	1	N21
17 October at 14:04	48 MW	7	N20
17 October at 13:45	8 MW	1	N
16 October at 15:08	52 MW	8	N21
16 October at 14:23	117 MW	16	N20
16 October at 14:04	116 MW	15	N
15 October at 14:42	83 MW	12	N20
15 October at 14:21	198 MW	11	N
15 October at 13:47	59 MW	10	N21
14 October at 14:04	72 MW	5	N21
13 October at 14:23	47 MW	3	N21
11 October at 14:59	4 MW	1	N21
11 October at 14:17	9 MW	1	N20
11 October at 13:57	14 MW	2	N
9 October at 14:53	6 MW	1	N20
9 October at 14:34	31 MW	4	N
8 October at 14:17	66 MW	7	N21
8 October at 09:26	17 MW	3	Terra
8 October at 02:39	3 MW	2	N20
8 October at 01:44	5 MW	6	N21
7 October at 16:37	596 MW	14	Aqua
7 October at 15:12	853 MW	101	N
7 October at 14:36	3,892 MW	129	N21
7 October at 13:51	2,104 MW	138	N20
7 October at 02:39	8 MW	3	N
7 October at 02:03	3 MW	3	N21
6 October at 15:31	322 MW	27	N
6 October at 14:53	1,282 MW	54	N21
6 October at 14:10	350 MW	23	N20
6 October at 13:49	448 MW	23	N
5 October at 21:19	88 MW	4	Terra
5 October at 16:59	231 MW	9	Aqua
5 October at 15:14	523 MW	39	N21
5 October at 14:29	1,393 MW	75	N20
5 October at 14:10	968 MW	57	N
5 October at 13:32	868 MW	48	N21
4 October at 16:22	44 MW	1	Aqua
4 October at 14:46	310 MW	25	N20
4 October at 14:27	592 MW	42	N
4 October at 13:51	440 MW	26	N21
4 October at 02:16	2 MW	3	N20
4 October at 01:56	1 MW	1	N
3 October at 15:07	56 MW	8	N20
3 October at 14:49	132 MW	14	N
3 October at 14:10	60 MW	3	N21
3 October at 09:26	13 MW	2	Terra
3 October at 02:13	0 MW	1	N
3 October at 01:37	2 MW	1	N21
2 October at 14:29	111 MW	9	N21
2 October at 13:47	5 MW	1	N20
1 October at 14:49	19 MW	2	N21
1 October at 14:04	17 MW	3	N20
30 September at 15:08	101 MW	4	N21
30 September at 14:21	191 MW	23	N20
30 September at 14:04	180 MW	14	N
29 September at 16:29	381 MW	10	Aqua
29 September at 14:42	1,078 MW	87	N20
29 September at 14:21	757 MW	48	N
29 September at 13:47	87 MW	13	N21
28 September at 14:59	545 MW	43	N20
28 September at 14:04	1,229 MW	76	N21
28 September at 09:29	15 MW	2	Terra
28 September at 02:28	1 MW	1	N20
28 September at 02:07	5 MW	2	N
27 September at 16:52	148 MW	10	Aqua
27 September at 15:21	359 MW	36	N20
27 September at 14:59	762 MW	67	N
27 September at 14:23	411 MW	42	N21
27 September at 13:38	330 MW	20	N20
26 September at 16:14	288 MW	5	Aqua
26 September at 15:18	260 MW	38	N
26 September at 14:42	751 MW	46	N21
26 September at 13:57	1,117 MW	71	N20
26 September at 02:45	5 MW	4	N
26 September at 02:07	9 MW	10	N21
26 September at 01:24	11 MW	5	N20
25 September at 21:21	8 MW	1	Terra
25 September at 17:14	89 MW	2	Aqua
25 September at 15:00	1,443 MW	145	N21
25 September at 14:17	2,283 MW	106	N20
25 September at 13:56	1,390 MW	116	N
24 September at 14:36	18 MW	2	N20
24 September at 14:17	46 MW	3	N

8 other fires near Kwando-Kubango (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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