Fire near Maranhão (BR)

4.04°S, 44.50°W · first detected on 20 October at 18:58

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 20 October at 18:58 to 22 October at 19:17, that is 2 days, through 91 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,253 ha.

Detected extent: 1,253 ha
Cumulative power: 957 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 73 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 91
Estimated emissions: 3.8 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 20 October 2026 to 22 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).

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
21 October at 23:24	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 23:20	26 MW	1	G19
21 October at 22:44	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 22:34	32 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 22:25	26 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 22:24	53 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 22:21	43 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 22:14	32 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 22:06	55 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 22:05	130 MW	4	G19FRP
21 October at 22:04	102 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 21:54	88 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 21:51	316 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 21:45	231 MW	4	G19FRP
21 October at 21:44	229 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 21:40	172 MW	2	G19
21 October at 21:35	38 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 21:34	62 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 21:30	81 MW	2	G19
21 October at 21:25	65 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 21:24	167 MW	7	Met12
21 October at 21:20	119 MW	2	G19
21 October at 21:14	163 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 21:06	76 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 21:04	44 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 20:55	43 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 20:54	34 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 20:50	59 MW	1	G19
21 October at 20:44	21 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 20:36	97 MW	6	Aqua
21 October at 20:34	25 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 20:24	53 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 20:21	126 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 20:20	73 MW	1	G19
21 October at 20:15	1,111 MW	3	G19FRP
21 October at 20:14	47 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 20:10	1,487 MW	5	G19
21 October at 20:00	91 MW	1	G19
21 October at 19:54	65 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 19:44	20 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 19:40	206 MW	2	G19
21 October at 19:34	58 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 19:30	297 MW	2	G19
21 October at 19:24	144 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 19:20	58 MW	1	G19
21 October at 19:15	303 MW	38	N
21 October at 19:10	297 MW	3	G19
21 October at 19:04	206 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 19:00	58 MW	1	G19
21 October at 18:55	153 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 18:50	173 MW	2	G19
21 October at 18:45	526 MW	2	G19FRP
21 October at 18:44	579 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 18:40	682 MW	3	G19
21 October at 18:39	186 MW	20	N21
21 October at 18:34	190 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 18:25	85 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 18:24	47 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 18:20	110 MW	1	G19
21 October at 18:15	283 MW	2	G19FRP
21 October at 18:14	54 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 18:10	342 MW	2	G19
21 October at 18:04	133 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 17:56	242 MW	26	N20
21 October at 17:55	107 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 17:54	180 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 17:51	95 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 17:50	125 MW	1	G19
21 October at 17:45	141 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 17:44	322 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 17:40	267 MW	2	G19
21 October at 17:34	108 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 17:30	63 MW	1	G19
21 October at 17:25	80 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 17:24	129 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 17:20	119 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 17:20	183 MW	2	G19
21 October at 17:14	96 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 17:05	160 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 17:05	127 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 17:04	226 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 16:54	141 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 16:44	131 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 16:35	110 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 16:34	72 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 16:24	68 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 16:14	65 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 16:04	67 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:54	92 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:45	81 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 15:44	143 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 15:40	156 MW	2	G19
21 October at 15:34	103 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:30	80 MW	1	G19
21 October at 15:24	54 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:20	148 MW	2	G19
21 October at 15:14	99 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 15:04	43 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:00	47 MW	1	G19
21 October at 14:55	41 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 13:55	31 MW	1	G19FRP
21 October at 13:54	29 MW	2	Met12

8 other fires near Maranhão (BR)

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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