Fire near Kwando-Kubango (AO)

15.93°S, 18.83°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 115 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,029 ha.

Detected extent: 1,029 ha
Cumulative power: 1,490 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 60 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 115

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 19:04	25 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 19:02	11 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:52	15 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:49	26 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 18:42	10 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:32	13 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:22	44 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 18:19	162 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 18:19	175 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 18:12	218 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 18:04	377 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 18:04	305 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 18:03	59 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 17:53	684 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 17:49	395 MW	6	Met9
6 September at 17:49	420 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 17:43	369 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 17:34	202 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 17:34	203 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 17:33	56 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 17:23	50 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 17:19	39 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 17:19	92 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 17:13	129 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 17:04	90 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 17:04	258 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 17:03	213 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 16:53	312 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 16:49	436 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 16:49	253 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 16:40	59 MW	5	Aqua
6 September at 16:34	75 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 16:34	52 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 16:19	166 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 16:19	120 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 16:13	24 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 16:04	148 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 16:04	103 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 15:49	105 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 15:49	113 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 15:34	182 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 15:34	122 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 15:19	301 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 15:19	315 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 15:13	28 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 15:12	219 MW	23	N20
6 September at 15:04	333 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 15:04	271 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 15:03	92 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 14:53	225 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 14:51	442 MW	45	N
6 September at 14:49	268 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 14:49	375 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 14:43	519 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 14:34	747 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 14:34	819 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 14:33	663 MW	13	Met12
6 September at 14:23	312 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 14:19	233 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 14:19	432 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 14:17	465 MW	22	N21
6 September at 14:13	833 MW	13	Met12
6 September at 14:04	668 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 14:04	615 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 14:03	531 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 13:53	456 MW	11	Met12
6 September at 13:49	861 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 13:49	619 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 13:43	482 MW	11	Met12
6 September at 13:34	601 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 13:34	567 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 13:33	433 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 13:32	376 MW	21	N20
6 September at 13:23	508 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 13:19	268 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 13:19	169 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 13:13	214 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 13:04	527 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 13:04	412 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 13:03	333 MW	10	Met12
6 September at 12:53	208 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 12:49	488 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 12:49	310 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 12:43	88 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 12:34	239 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 12:34	249 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 12:33	129 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 12:19	74 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 12:19	152 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 12:13	67 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 12:04	787 MW	6	Met9
6 September at 12:04	719 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 12:03	369 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 11:53	80 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 11:49	163 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 11:49	186 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 11:43	238 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 11:34	354 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 11:34	371 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 11:33	206 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 11:23	139 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 11:19	502 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 11:19	482 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 11:13	91 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 11:04	60 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 10:53	29 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 10:49	56 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 10:34	99 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 10:33	29 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 02:39	8 MW	6	N20
6 September at 02:20	7 MW	8	N
6 September at 01:44	6 MW	5	N21

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