Fire near Niassa (MZ)

12.18°S, 37.53°E · first detected on 27 September at 13:19

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 27 September at 13:19 to 21 October at 14:10, that is 24 days, through 1,145 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 16,998 ha.

Detected extent: 16,998 ha
Cumulative power: 15,152 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 205 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 1,145
Estimated emissions: 17.0 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).

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 27 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 10:23	32 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:03	12 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 14:53	19 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 14:19	89 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 14:10	24 MW	2	N
21 October at 13:43	128 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 13:34	43 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 13:33	72 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 13:32	117 MW	8	N21
21 October at 12:47	15 MW	3	N20
21 October at 12:28	6 MW	1	N
21 October at 00:59	3 MW	2	N21
21 October at 00:14	3 MW	2	N20
20 October at 13:08	42 MW	8	N20
20 October at 12:47	125 MW	15	N
20 October at 11:49	80 MW	1	Met9
20 October at 11:43	46 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 10:23	43 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 09:13	13 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 01:18	7 MW	4	N21
20 October at 00:33	13 MW	9	N20
20 October at 00:14	10 MW	7	N
19 October at 23:19	12 MW	1	Met9
19 October at 23:05	37 MW	2	Met9
19 October at 22:20	36 MW	2	Met9
19 October at 17:50	17 MW	1	Met9
19 October at 17:35	19 MW	1	Met9
19 October at 17:13	29 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 17:05	87 MW	2	Met9
19 October at 17:05	39 MW	1	Met10
19 October at 16:35	34 MW	1	Met9
19 October at 16:05	65 MW	2	Met9
19 October at 16:03	12 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 15:33	47 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 15:23	56 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 15:13	22 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 15:03	61 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 14:53	117 MW	4	Met12
19 October at 13:25	118 MW	7	N20
19 October at 13:06	95 MW	7	N
19 October at 12:30	153 MW	8	N21
19 October at 12:23	16 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 11:23	33 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 10:43	30 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 10:34	94 MW	1	Met10
19 October at 09:49	76 MW	1	Met10
19 October at 09:34	126 MW	2	Met10
19 October at 09:23	32 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 09:19	123 MW	2	Met10
19 October at 09:19	111 MW	2	Met9
19 October at 00:31	1 MW	1	N
18 October at 19:56	10 MW	1	Terra
18 October at 15:25	213 MW	3	Aqua
18 October at 13:25	11 MW	2	N
18 October at 12:47	54 MW	3	N21
18 October at 01:12	3 MW	2	N20
18 October at 00:52	3 MW	3	N
18 October at 00:14	1 MW	1	N21
17 October at 14:04	8 MW	1	N20
17 October at 13:45	30 MW	3	N
17 October at 13:08	13 MW	1	N21
17 October at 12:24	41 MW	5	N20
17 October at 01:09	3 MW	2	N
16 October at 13:25	151 MW	6	N21
16 October at 12:41	287 MW	7	N20
16 October at 12:21	137 MW	11	N
16 October at 01:29	6 MW	3	N
16 October at 00:52	13 MW	9	N21
16 October at 00:08	10 MW	8	N20
15 October at 13:47	298 MW	16	N21
15 October at 13:02	164 MW	13	N20
15 October at 12:43	1,229 MW	54	N
15 October at 01:09	6 MW	3	N21
14 October at 20:36	12 MW	1	Terra
14 October at 13:19	42 MW	4	N20
14 October at 13:00	447 MW	15	N
14 October at 12:24	248 MW	19	N21
14 October at 01:29	2 MW	2	N21
14 October at 00:46	10 MW	8	N20
14 October at 00:27	5 MW	5	N
13 October at 19:58	20 MW	2	Terra
13 October at 13:38	136 MW	12	N20
12 October at 13:02	351 MW	26	N21
12 October at 01:24	14 MW	8	N20
12 October at 01:03	24 MW	17	N
12 October at 00:29	27 MW	15	N21
11 October at 20:19	6 MW	1	Terra
11 October at 13:55	152 MW	29	N
11 October at 13:19	322 MW	39	N21
11 October at 12:36	814 MW	68	N20
11 October at 08:05	28 MW	2	Terra
11 October at 01:41	3 MW	2	N20
11 October at 01:22	14 MW	12	N
11 October at 00:46	37 MW	11	N21
10 October at 19:39	49 MW	2	Terra
10 October at 15:14	32 MW	3	Aqua
10 October at 13:38	431 MW	44	N21
10 October at 12:56	1,001 MW	53	N20
10 October at 12:36	580 MW	40	N
10 October at 01:03	10 MW	5	N21
10 October at 00:20	6 MW	3	N20
9 October at 13:57	535 MW	25	N21
9 October at 13:13	491 MW	45	N20
9 October at 12:53	542 MW	48	N
9 October at 12:17	407 MW	34	N21
9 October at 08:25	19 MW	1	Terra
9 October at 01:24	9 MW	6	N21
9 October at 00:40	21 MW	13	N20
9 October at 00:20	7 MW	5	N
8 October at 20:00	6 MW	1	Terra
8 October at 15:38	104 MW	3	Aqua
8 October at 13:32	400 MW	42	N20
8 October at 13:15	661 MW	46	N
8 October at 12:36	786 MW	27	N21
8 October at 00:59	7 MW	7	N20
8 October at 00:37	5 MW	6	N
8 October at 00:01	2 MW	1	N21
7 October at 14:59	102 MW	2	Aqua
7 October at 13:51	103 MW	9	N20
7 October at 13:32	235 MW	17	N
7 October at 12:56	632 MW	34	N21
6 October at 13:49	416 MW	50	N
6 October at 13:15	987 MW	44	N21
6 October at 12:30	308 MW	39	N20
6 October at 01:35	2 MW	2	N20
6 October at 01:16	5 MW	4	N
6 October at 00:40	8 MW	7	N21
5 October at 15:21	61 MW	4	Aqua
5 October at 14:10	71 MW	5	N
5 October at 13:32	70 MW	5	N21
5 October at 12:47	369 MW	18	N20
5 October at 12:28	8 MW	2	N
4 October at 14:44	170 MW	2	Aqua
4 October at 12:47	121 MW	6	N
4 October at 12:11	20 MW	2	N21
3 October at 13:25	131 MW	5	N20
3 October at 13:06	31 MW	5	N
1 October at 12:24	4 MW	1	N20
30 September at 14:04	3 MW	1	N
29 September at 13:02	23 MW	3	N20
29 September at 08:29	37 MW	2	Terra
28 September at 13:19	224 MW	9	N20
28 September at 12:24	13 MW	2	N21
27 September at 13:38	7 MW	1	N20
27 September at 13:19	8 MW	1	N

8 other fires near Niassa (MZ)

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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