Fire near Papouasie (ID)

4.09°S, 138.40°E · first detected on 12 October at 17:20

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 12 October at 17:20 to 22 October at 07:08, that is 10 days, through 735 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 8,049 ha.

Detected extent: 8,049 ha
Cumulative power: 25,852 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 373 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 735
Estimated emissions: 71.5 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 12 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). Published data stop on 21 October 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 12 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 18:30	2 MW	2	N20
22 October at 18:09	4 MW	2	N
22 October at 17:31	1 MW	1	N21
22 October at 08:25	93 MW	1	Him9
22 October at 08:15	105 MW	1	Him9
22 October at 07:35	72 MW	1	Him9
22 October at 07:25	47 MW	1	Him9
22 October at 07:15	81 MW	1	Him9
22 October at 07:08	17 MW	3	N
22 October at 06:55	555 MW	3	Him9
22 October at 06:45	77 MW	1	Him9
22 October at 06:35	848 MW	3	Him9
22 October at 06:29	881 MW	11	N21
22 October at 06:25	638 MW	3	Him9
22 October at 06:15	2,121 MW	6	Him9
22 October at 06:05	1,694 MW	6	Him9
22 October at 05:55	1,642 MW	5	Him9
22 October at 05:47	1,170 MW	28	N20
22 October at 05:45	3,049 MW	5	Him9
22 October at 05:35	2,610 MW	4	Him9
22 October at 05:25	1,481 MW	4	Him9
22 October at 05:15	1,836 MW	4	Him9
22 October at 05:05	860 MW	4	Him9
22 October at 04:15	267 MW	2	Him9
22 October at 03:45	216 MW	2	Him9
21 October at 09:25	44 MW	1	Him9
21 October at 09:15	45 MW	1	Him9
21 October at 09:07	27 MW	1	Aqua
21 October at 09:05	49 MW	1	Him9
21 October at 08:55	55 MW	1	Him9
21 October at 08:45	59 MW	1	Him9
21 October at 06:49	131 MW	8	N21
21 October at 06:04	137 MW	9	N20
21 October at 05:47	360 MW	22	N
20 October at 18:48	6 MW	3	N
20 October at 11:35	21 MW	1	Him9
20 October at 08:29	29 MW	1	Aqua
20 October at 06:04	12 MW	2	N
20 October at 05:28	46 MW	3	N21
19 October at 19:45	176 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 19:35	77 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 19:25	27 MW	1	Him9
19 October at 18:28	1 MW	1	N21
19 October at 14:05	28 MW	1	Him9
19 October at 10:55	26 MW	1	Him9
19 October at 10:45	144 MW	3	Him9
19 October at 10:35	50 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 10:25	25 MW	1	Him9
19 October at 10:15	49 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 09:15	46 MW	1	Him9
19 October at 09:05	35 MW	1	Him9
19 October at 08:55	119 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 08:45	136 MW	1	Him9
19 October at 08:25	209 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 08:15	375 MW	3	Him9
19 October at 08:05	372 MW	3	Him9
19 October at 07:55	377 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 07:45	128 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 07:35	865 MW	5	Him9
19 October at 07:25	784 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 07:15	691 MW	5	Him9
19 October at 07:05	364 MW	3	Him9
19 October at 06:55	218 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 06:45	772 MW	5	Him9
19 October at 06:42	1,344 MW	46	N20
19 October at 06:35	424 MW	3	Him9
19 October at 06:25	611 MW	3	Him9
19 October at 06:21	984 MW	30	N
19 October at 06:15	642 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 05:55	227 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 05:47	1,638 MW	30	N21
19 October at 05:45	663 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 05:35	1,251 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 05:25	601 MW	3	Him9
19 October at 05:15	515 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 05:05	375 MW	1	Him9
19 October at 04:15	728 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 04:05	363 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 03:55	795 MW	6	Him9
19 October at 03:45	669 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 03:35	330 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 03:15	598 MW	6	Him9
19 October at 03:05	496 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 02:55	1,027 MW	5	Him9
19 October at 02:45	676 MW	5	Him9
19 October at 02:35	548 MW	4	Him9
19 October at 02:25	287 MW	3	Him9
19 October at 02:15	165 MW	2	Him9
19 October at 02:05	61 MW	1	Him9
18 October at 18:48	25 MW	9	N21
18 October at 18:03	33 MW	12	N20
18 October at 17:44	39 MW	12	N
18 October at 13:23	81 MW	6	Terra
18 October at 08:52	975 MW	12	Aqua
18 October at 07:01	2,947 MW	69	N20
18 October at 06:42	4,022 MW	75	N
18 October at 06:04	5,893 MW	55	N21
18 October at 01:07	42 MW	3	Terra
17 October at 17:26	2 MW	1	N21
17 October at 06:59	1,953 MW	72	N
17 October at 06:23	517 MW	25	N21
16 October at 18:41	11 MW	2	N20
16 October at 18:22	12 MW	5	N
16 October at 17:46	24 MW	4	N21
16 October at 07:21	82 MW	7	N
16 October at 01:26	22 MW	2	Terra
15 October at 18:39	4 MW	2	N
15 October at 18:05	14 MW	12	N21
15 October at 13:04	25 MW	1	Terra
15 October at 05:57	66 MW	3	N
15 October at 05:21	156 MW	7	N21
14 October at 19:00	1 MW	1	N
14 October at 18:22	3 MW	2	N21
14 October at 17:37	5 MW	3	N20
14 October at 06:36	203 MW	11	N20
14 October at 06:17	533 MW	5	N
14 October at 05:40	216 MW	14	N21
14 October at 01:46	144 MW	3	Terra
13 October at 18:41	123 MW	24	N21
13 October at 17:58	148 MW	23	N20
13 October at 17:37	110 MW	21	N
13 October at 13:28	333 MW	9	Terra
13 October at 01:09	54 MW	2	Terra
12 October at 19:00	114 MW	7	N21
12 October at 18:16	71 MW	9	N20
12 October at 17:20	69 MW	7	N21

8 other fires near Papouasie (ID)

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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