Fire near Luapula (ZM)

9.95°S, 29.78°E · first detected on 6 September at 00:37

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 6 September at 00:37 to 6 September at 14:19, through 62 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 877 ha.

Detected extent: 877 ha
Cumulative power: 896 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 43 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 62

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 20:28	10 MW	1	Terra
6 September at 19:50	14 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 19:35	109 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 19:35	97 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 19:33	29 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 19:23	45 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 19:20	142 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 19:20	134 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 19:05	15 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 18:50	22 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 18:50	21 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 18:43	14 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:35	66 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 18:35	65 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 18:33	28 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 18:23	39 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 18:20	101 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 18:20	126 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 18:13	40 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 18:05	103 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 18:05	114 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 18:03	21 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:53	27 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:50	140 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 17:50	148 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 17:43	11 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:35	168 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 17:35	156 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 17:33	16 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:23	13 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 17:20	169 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 17:20	176 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 17:13	63 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 17:05	270 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 17:05	275 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 17:03	82 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 16:53	338 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 16:50	713 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 16:50	688 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 16:43	276 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 16:35	483 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 16:35	473 MW	5	Met10
6 September at 16:33	356 MW	10	Met12
6 September at 16:23	573 MW	12	Met12
6 September at 16:20	660 MW	6	Met9
6 September at 16:20	720 MW	6	Met10
6 September at 16:13	415 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 16:05	217 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 16:05	254 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 16:03	60 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 15:53	279 MW	4	Met12
6 September at 15:50	314 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 15:50	402 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 15:43	434 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 15:35	587 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 15:35	644 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 15:33	365 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 15:23	32 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 15:20	167 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 15:20	431 MW	5	Met9
6 September at 15:13	799 MW	9	Met12
6 September at 15:05	268 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 15:05	235 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 15:03	31 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 14:53	134 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 14:50	291 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 14:50	406 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 14:43	324 MW	8	Met12
6 September at 14:35	634 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 14:35	688 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 14:33	442 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 14:23	253 MW	6	Met12
6 September at 14:20	345 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 14:20	201 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 14:19	475 MW	25	N21
6 September at 14:13	350 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 14:05	609 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 14:04	441 MW	3	Met10
6 September at 14:03	387 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 13:53	241 MW	5	Met12
6 September at 13:50	344 MW	4	Met9
6 September at 13:49	420 MW	4	Met10
6 September at 13:43	99 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 13:35	112 MW	2	Met9
6 September at 13:34	130 MW	2	Met10
6 September at 13:33	52 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 13:32	149 MW	20	N20
6 September at 13:23	291 MW	7	Met12
6 September at 13:20	184 MW	3	Met9
6 September at 13:19	92 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 13:15	254 MW	11	N
6 September at 13:13	146 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 13:04	65 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 13:04	72 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 13:03	70 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 12:53	58 MW	3	Met12
6 September at 12:49	59 MW	1	Met10
6 September at 12:49	41 MW	1	Met9
6 September at 12:38	10 MW	1	N21
6 September at 12:33	52 MW	2	Met12
6 September at 11:23	14 MW	1	Met12
6 September at 00:59	3 MW	3	N20
6 September at 00:37	6 MW	2	N

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