Fire near Kwando-Kubango (AO)

16.57°S, 20.36°E · first detected on 6 September at 01:44

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 6 September at 01:44 to 7 September at 14:53, that is 2 days, through 69 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,186 ha.

Detected extent: 1,186 ha
Cumulative power: 1,037 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 102 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 69

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 4 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
8 September at 01:44	2 MW	1	N
7 September at 15:43	14 MW	1	Met12
7 September at 14:53	7 MW	1	N20
7 September at 14:33	162 MW	4	Met12
7 September at 14:23	36 MW	1	Met12
7 September at 14:19	85 MW	1	Met9
7 September at 13:57	24 MW	2	N21
7 September at 13:19	79 MW	1	Met9
7 September at 13:04	180 MW	2	Met10
7 September at 13:04	208 MW	2	Met9
7 September at 11:53	40 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:53	16 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:49	59 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 17:49	60 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 17:43	44 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 17:34	211 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 17:34	114 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 17:33	81 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 17:23	55 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 17:19	72 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 17:19	41 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 17:13	28 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 17:04	118 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 17:04	43 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 17:03	63 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 16:53	103 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 16:49	318 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 16:49	250 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 16:43	238 MW	6	Met12
6 September at 16:40	163 MW	3	Aqua
6 September at 16:34	188 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 16:34	128 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 16:33	32 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 16:23	23 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 16:19	117 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 16:19	130 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 16:04	74 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 16:04	180 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 16:03	22 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 15:53	31 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 15:49	231 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 15:49	207 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 15:43	160 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 15:34	501 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 15:34	413 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 15:33	283 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 15:23	164 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 15:19	333 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 15:19	327 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 15:13	286 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 15:12	401 MW	25	N20
6 September at 15:04	173 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 15:04	128 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 15:03	78 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 14:53	62 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 14:51	176 MW	17	N
6 September at 14:49	424 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 14:49	418 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 14:43	380 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 14:34	178 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 14:34	385 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 14:33	234 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 14:23	181 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 14:19	294 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 14:19	233 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 14:17	109 MW	11	N21
6 September at 14:13	58 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 14:04	117 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 14:03	14 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 13:53	50 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 13:49	330 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 13:49	314 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 13:43	244 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 13:34	253 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 13:34	332 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 13:33	158 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 13:32	157 MW	9	N20
6 September at 13:23	226 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 13:19	248 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 13:19	178 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 13:13	101 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 13:04	325 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 13:04	281 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 13:03	172 MW	6	Met12
6 September at 12:53	240 MW	6	Met12
6 September at 12:49	335 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 12:49	393 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 12:43	19 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 12:19	59 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 12:19	89 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 12:04	131 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 11:53	25 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 11:49	77 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 11:43	23 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 11:19	71 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 01:44	1 MW	1	N21

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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