Fire near Niassa (MZ)

12.26°S, 35.64°E · first detected on 19 October at 15:43

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 19 October at 15:43 to 21 October at 01:35, through 64 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,011 ha.

Detected extent: 1,011 ha
Cumulative power: 836 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 242 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 64
Estimated emissions: 942 t of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 19 October 2026 to 20 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 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
22 October at 01:35	8 MW	6	N20
22 October at 01:16	8 MW	6	N
22 October at 00:40	14 MW	5	N21
21 October at 20:15	19 MW	2	Terra
21 October at 20:05	24 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 20:05	21 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 20:03	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 19:50	19 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 18:35	18 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 18:05	22 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 17:50	22 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 17:43	13 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:35	29 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 17:35	56 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 17:33	32 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 17:20	18 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 17:05	16 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 17:03	36 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 16:53	25 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 16:50	64 MW	3	Met9
21 October at 16:50	27 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 16:43	36 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 16:35	194 MW	7	Met9
21 October at 16:35	113 MW	3	Met10
21 October at 16:34	33 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 16:33	88 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 16:23	43 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 16:20	79 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 16:20	88 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 16:13	43 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 16:05	107 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 16:05	68 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 16:03	66 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:53	62 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:50	133 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 15:49	126 MW	3	Met10
21 October at 15:43	23 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 15:40	216 MW	12	Aqua
21 October at 15:35	169 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 15:34	174 MW	3	Met10
21 October at 15:33	193 MW	7	Met12
21 October at 15:23	194 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 15:20	364 MW	7	Met9
21 October at 15:19	190 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 15:13	74 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:05	132 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 15:03	49 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:53	113 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 14:50	547 MW	7	Met9
21 October at 14:43	40 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:35	108 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 14:23	193 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 14:13	80 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 14:10	126 MW	9	N
21 October at 13:53	31 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:43	17 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:33	141 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 13:32	170 MW	18	N21
21 October at 13:23	91 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 13:13	43 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:03	21 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:49	203 MW	20	N20
21 October at 12:43	14 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:03	48 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:33	304 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 11:23	23 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:13	41 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:03	52 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 10:53	31 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 10:33	66 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 09:53	64 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 09:49	58 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 09:49	46 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 08:01	6 MW	1	Terra
21 October at 01:56	8 MW	2	N20
21 October at 01:35	8 MW	4	N
21 October at 00:59	10 MW	9	N21
21 October at 00:14	7 MW	5	N20
20 October at 19:13	13 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 17:53	21 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 16:43	160 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 16:33	22 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:13	53 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 16:05	448 MW	7	Met9
20 October at 16:03	108 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 15:53	81 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 15:50	161 MW	5	Met9
20 October at 15:49	64 MW	1	Met10
20 October at 15:43	25 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 15:35	367 MW	6	Met9
20 October at 15:34	146 MW	2	Met10
20 October at 15:33	45 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 15:20	235 MW	6	Met9
20 October at 15:13	14 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 15:05	392 MW	6	Met9
20 October at 15:03	239 MW	5	Met12
20 October at 15:01	454 MW	3	Aqua
20 October at 14:53	108 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 14:50	418 MW	6	Met9
20 October at 14:43	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 14:35	393 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 14:23	52 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 14:19	358 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 14:13	12 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 14:04	282 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 14:03	78 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 13:53	95 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 13:51	196 MW	25	N21
20 October at 13:33	16 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:23	144 MW	7	Met12
20 October at 13:13	29 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 13:08	184 MW	23	N20
20 October at 13:03	35 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 12:53	137 MW	5	Met12
20 October at 12:47	82 MW	15	N
20 October at 12:33	247 MW	6	Met12
20 October at 12:13	45 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 11:53	348 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 11:23	174 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 11:13	238 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 10:53	42 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 10:43	43 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 10:34	153 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 10:34	65 MW	1	Met10
20 October at 10:33	69 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 10:23	164 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 10:19	66 MW	1	Met10
20 October at 10:13	25 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 10:04	357 MW	4	Met9
20 October at 10:04	231 MW	2	Met10
20 October at 10:03	252 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 09:53	64 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 09:43	164 MW	6	Met12
20 October at 09:23	32 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 09:13	14 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 09:03	52 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 08:43	16 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 08:33	23 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 01:54	1 MW	1	N
20 October at 01:18	2 MW	3	N21
20 October at 00:33	1 MW	2	N20
20 October at 00:14	2 MW	2	N
19 October at 20:34	6 MW	1	Terra
19 October at 16:01	61 MW	2	Aqua
19 October at 13:25	53 MW	9	N20
19 October at 13:08	32 MW	3	N
19 October at 12:30	62 MW	7	N21
19 October at 00:52	1 MW	2	N20
18 October at 15:25	48 MW	3	Aqua
18 October at 13:47	16 MW	2	N20
18 October at 13:25	21 MW	3	N
18 October at 12:47	8 MW	2	N21
18 October at 07:44	26 MW	1	Terra

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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