Fire near Papouasie occidentale (ID)

3.53°S, 133.00°E · first detected on 23 September at 13:32

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 23 September at 13:32 to 22 October at 19:13, that is 29 days, through 3,611 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 41,484 ha.

Detected extent: 41,484 ha
Cumulative power: 7,913 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 19 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 3,611
Estimated emissions: 4.8 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). 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 30 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 19:13	4 MW	2	N21
22 October at 18:30	89 MW	54	N20
22 October at 18:09	6 MW	5	N
22 October at 17:25	23 MW	1	Him9
22 October at 13:25	47 MW	2	Him9
22 October at 13:15	74 MW	3	Him9
22 October at 13:05	52 MW	3	Him9
22 October at 12:55	74 MW	2	Him9
22 October at 12:35	76 MW	2	Him9
22 October at 12:25	48 MW	2	Him9
22 October at 07:27	25 MW	3	N20
22 October at 07:08	68 MW	11	N
22 October at 06:29	7 MW	1	N21
21 October at 18:48	86 MW	48	N20
21 October at 18:28	68 MW	29	N
21 October at 17:52	9 MW	4	N21
21 October at 06:49	53 MW	10	N21
20 October at 18:48	10 MW	7	N
20 October at 18:09	7 MW	3	N21
19 October at 19:05	19 MW	12	N
19 October at 18:29	121 MW	77	N21
19 October at 14:04	9 MW	1	Terra
19 October at 06:44	250 MW	66	N20
19 October at 06:23	1 MW	1	N
18 October at 18:48	77 MW	35	N21
18 October at 18:03	3 MW	4	N20
18 October at 13:25	18 MW	2	Terra
18 October at 08:52	46 MW	6	Aqua
18 October at 07:01	18 MW	4	N20
18 October at 06:42	52 MW	10	N
17 October at 18:22	17 MW	8	N20
17 October at 07:21	2 MW	1	N20
17 October at 07:01	28 MW	5	N
16 October at 18:41	132 MW	98	N20
16 October at 18:22	39 MW	25	N
16 October at 13:45	40 MW	7	Terra
15 October at 20:58	7 MW	1	Aqua
15 October at 18:39	2 MW	1	N
15 October at 18:05	7 MW	2	N21
14 October at 19:20	3 MW	2	N20
14 October at 19:00	30 MW	20	N
14 October at 18:22	46 MW	30	N21
14 October at 14:04	9 MW	1	Terra
14 October at 06:17	4 MW	1	N
13 October at 18:41	10 MW	8	N21
11 October at 18:37	6 MW	5	N20
11 October at 13:47	21 MW	4	Terra
11 October at 06:36	119 MW	25	N21
10 October at 18:54	23 MW	22	N20
10 October at 18:35	84 MW	95	N
10 October at 17:58	3 MW	4	N21
10 October at 08:44	15 MW	2	Aqua
10 October at 06:55	61 MW	12	N21
10 October at 06:12	15 MW	2	N20
9 October at 19:13	2 MW	1	N20
9 October at 18:54	106 MW	58	N
9 October at 18:16	85 MW	37	N21
9 October at 14:06	8 MW	1	Terra
8 October at 18:37	75 MW	53	N21
8 October at 09:07	22 MW	2	Aqua
8 October at 06:51	113 MW	20	N20
7 October at 20:49	34 MW	7	Aqua
7 October at 18:54	17 MW	12	N21
7 October at 18:09	4 MW	3	N20
7 October at 06:46	170 MW	43	N
6 October at 18:28	279 MW	189	N20
6 October at 18:09	13 MW	12	N
6 October at 13:47	134 MW	21	Terra
6 October at 07:08	47 MW	11	N
6 October at 01:29	8 MW	1	Terra
5 October at 18:48	267 MW	173	N20
5 October at 18:28	198 MW	118	N
5 October at 17:52	14 MW	7	N21
5 October at 08:50	121 MW	13	Aqua
5 October at 06:49	139 MW	23	N21
4 October at 19:05	19 MW	8	N20
4 October at 18:46	260 MW	190	N
4 October at 18:09	109 MW	68	N21
4 October at 14:08	40 MW	3	Terra
4 October at 07:08	14 MW	3	N21
4 October at 01:50	47 MW	7	Terra
3 October at 19:05	44 MW	26	N
3 October at 18:30	363 MW	202	N21
3 October at 13:30	24 MW	2	Terra
3 October at 06:42	118 MW	28	N20
2 October at 20:56	40 MW	7	Aqua
2 October at 19:24	2 MW	1	N
2 October at 18:48	118 MW	52	N21
2 October at 18:03	27 MW	21	N20
2 October at 08:35	26 MW	2	Aqua
2 October at 07:01	10 MW	2	N20
2 October at 06:42	15 MW	3	N
2 October at 06:06	15 MW	2	N21
1 October at 19:07	3 MW	2	N21
1 October at 18:22	137 MW	83	N20
1 October at 18:05	17 MW	14	N
1 October at 13:49	231 MW	34	Terra
1 October at 07:01	96 MW	18	N
1 October at 01:31	13 MW	2	Terra
30 September at 18:41	344 MW	265	N20
30 September at 18:22	106 MW	76	N
30 September at 17:46	2 MW	1	N21
30 September at 08:57	81 MW	12	Aqua
30 September at 06:44	180 MW	36	N21
29 September at 18:39	22 MW	16	N
29 September at 18:05	1 MW	1	N21
28 September at 19:00	15 MW	12	N
28 September at 18:22	151 MW	116	N21
28 September at 06:36	25 MW	4	N20
27 September at 19:17	3 MW	2	N
27 September at 18:41	159 MW	79	N21
27 September at 17:58	2 MW	2	N20
27 September at 08:42	33 MW	4	Aqua
27 September at 06:55	51 MW	9	N20
27 September at 06:36	17 MW	3	N
26 September at 19:00	12 MW	6	N21
26 September at 18:16	77 MW	54	N20
26 September at 13:49	115 MW	19	Terra
26 September at 07:14	6 MW	1	N20
26 September at 06:53	67 MW	16	N
26 September at 01:33	6 MW	1	Terra
25 September at 18:36	288 MW	211	N20
25 September at 18:16	56 MW	32	N
25 September at 09:03	43 MW	5	Aqua
25 September at 07:14	13 MW	2	N
25 September at 06:36	46 MW	11	N21
24 September at 20:47	33 MW	6	Aqua
24 September at 18:54	7 MW	3	N20
24 September at 18:35	2 MW	1	N
24 September at 06:55	14 MW	3	N21
24 September at 01:54	5 MW	1	Terra

8 other fires near Papouasie occidentale (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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