Fire near Shanxi (CN)
37.22°N, 111.95°E · first detected on 23 September at 06:42
What the satellites measured
This fire was tracked from 23 September at 06:42 to 21 October at 07:57, that is 28 days, through 1,421 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 18,117 ha.
- Detected extent
- 18,117 ha
- Cumulative power
- 7,229 MW
- Peak power, one pixel
- 55 MW
- VIIRS and MODIS detections
- 1,421
- Estimated emissions
- 1.7 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 October at 07:57 | 31 MW | 7 | N20 |
| 21 October at 07:38 | 32 MW | 9 | N |
| 21 October at 07:01 | 22 MW | 6 | N21 |
| 20 October at 20:38 | 4 MW | 3 | N20 |
| 20 October at 20:17 | 3 MW | 2 | N |
| 20 October at 19:41 | 3 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 20 October at 08:16 | 6 MW | 2 | N20 |
| 20 October at 06:36 | 3 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 18 October at 20:56 | 2 MW | 1 | N |
| 18 October at 20:17 | 2 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 17 October at 20:38 | 1 MW | 1 | N21 |
| 15 October at 08:10 | 27 MW | 8 | N20 |
| 15 October at 07:50 | 66 MW | 18 | N |
| 15 October at 07:14 | 26 MW | 7 | N21 |
| 15 October at 06:29 | 6 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 14 October at 20:49 | 1 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 14 October at 20:30 | 6 MW | 4 | N |
| 14 October at 19:52 | 6 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 14 October at 09:48 | 4 MW | 1 | Aqua |
| 14 October at 08:29 | 24 MW | 4 | N20 |
| 14 October at 08:10 | 13 MW | 3 | N |
| 14 October at 07:31 | 9 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 14 October at 06:51 | 16 MW | 6 | N20 |
| 13 October at 21:08 | 1 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 13 October at 20:47 | 1 MW | 1 | N |
| 13 October at 20:11 | 4 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 11 October at 08:31 | 42 MW | 5 | N21 |
| 11 October at 07:46 | 104 MW | 25 | N20 |
| 11 October at 07:25 | 68 MW | 15 | N |
| 11 October at 06:49 | 52 MW | 15 | N21 |
| 10 October at 20:24 | 5 MW | 4 | N20 |
| 10 October at 19:28 | 1 MW | 1 | N21 |
| 10 October at 08:03 | 124 MW | 25 | N20 |
| 10 October at 07:44 | 109 MW | 30 | N |
| 10 October at 07:08 | 83 MW | 13 | N21 |
| 9 October at 20:43 | 2 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 9 October at 20:24 | 3 MW | 2 | N |
| 9 October at 09:54 | 39 MW | 6 | Aqua |
| 9 October at 08:22 | 68 MW | 20 | N20 |
| 9 October at 08:03 | 108 MW | 17 | N |
| 9 October at 07:25 | 105 MW | 26 | N21 |
| 9 October at 06:42 | 23 MW | 8 | N20 |
| 8 October at 21:02 | 2 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 8 October at 20:41 | 2 MW | 2 | N |
| 8 October at 20:06 | 5 MW | 2 | N21 |
| 8 October at 09:16 | 48 MW | 2 | Aqua |
| 8 October at 08:42 | 47 MW | 7 | N20 |
| 8 October at 08:22 | 50 MW | 9 | N |
| 8 October at 07:46 | 63 MW | 15 | N21 |
| 8 October at 07:01 | 58 MW | 14 | N20 |
| 8 October at 06:42 | 16 MW | 2 | N |
| 7 October at 21:02 | 5 MW | 4 | N |
| 7 October at 20:24 | 11 MW | 6 | N21 |
| 7 October at 19:39 | 4 MW | 3 | N20 |
| 7 October at 08:40 | 32 MW | 5 | N |
| 7 October at 08:03 | 70 MW | 10 | N21 |
| 7 October at 07:21 | 115 MW | 22 | N20 |
| 7 October at 06:59 | 110 MW | 28 | N |
| 7 October at 06:23 | 21 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 6 October at 21:19 | 3 MW | 2 | N |
| 6 October at 20:43 | 1 MW | 1 | N21 |
| 6 October at 19:59 | 5 MW | 3 | N20 |
| 6 October at 09:39 | 52 MW | 8 | Aqua |
| 6 October at 08:25 | 132 MW | 17 | N21 |
| 6 October at 07:38 | 112 MW | 19 | N20 |
| 6 October at 07:21 | 85 MW | 12 | N |
| 6 October at 06:42 | 123 MW | 20 | N21 |
| 5 October at 21:02 | 2 MW | 1 | N21 |
| 5 October at 20:17 | 4 MW | 3 | N20 |
| 5 October at 19:58 | 4 MW | 2 | N |
| 5 October at 09:01 | 208 MW | 5 | Aqua |
| 5 October at 07:57 | 406 MW | 68 | N20 |
| 5 October at 07:38 | 379 MW | 97 | N |
| 5 October at 07:01 | 471 MW | 81 | N21 |
| 5 October at 03:56 | 8 MW | 1 | Terra |
| 4 October at 20:37 | 3 MW | 2 | N20 |
| 4 October at 20:17 | 2 MW | 2 | N |
| 4 October at 19:41 | 3 MW | 2 | N21 |
| 4 October at 10:03 | 163 MW | 14 | Aqua |
| 4 October at 08:16 | 219 MW | 31 | N20 |
| 4 October at 07:55 | 274 MW | 52 | N |
| 4 October at 07:21 | 285 MW | 52 | N21 |
| 4 October at 06:36 | 225 MW | 31 | N20 |
| 3 October at 20:56 | 2 MW | 3 | N20 |
| 3 October at 20:36 | 3 MW | 4 | N |
| 3 October at 20:00 | 5 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 3 October at 15:18 | 43 MW | 1 | Terra |
| 3 October at 08:35 | 18 MW | 3 | N20 |
| 3 October at 08:16 | 54 MW | 9 | N |
| 3 October at 07:40 | 171 MW | 40 | N21 |
| 3 October at 06:55 | 155 MW | 36 | N20 |
| 2 October at 07:57 | 114 MW | 28 | N21 |
| 2 October at 07:14 | 95 MW | 22 | N20 |
| 2 October at 06:53 | 97 MW | 25 | N |
| 1 October at 20:38 | 6 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 1 October at 19:52 | 1 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 1 October at 09:46 | 145 MW | 14 | Aqua |
| 1 October at 08:16 | 279 MW | 43 | N21 |
| 1 October at 07:31 | 235 MW | 48 | N20 |
| 1 October at 07:14 | 206 MW | 49 | N |
| 1 October at 06:36 | 253 MW | 30 | N21 |
| 30 September at 21:32 | 1 MW | 1 | N |
| 30 September at 20:56 | 6 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 30 September at 20:13 | 2 MW | 2 | N20 |
| 30 September at 19:52 | 2 MW | 3 | N |
| 29 September at 21:15 | 3 MW | 2 | N21 |
| 29 September at 20:30 | 2 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 29 September at 20:11 | 3 MW | 3 | N |
| 29 September at 08:10 | 36 MW | 9 | N20 |
| 29 September at 07:50 | 74 MW | 18 | N |
| 29 September at 07:14 | 80 MW | 18 | N21 |
| 29 September at 06:29 | 20 MW | 3 | N20 |
| 28 September at 20:30 | 1 MW | 1 | N |
| 28 September at 19:52 | 4 MW | 2 | N21 |
| 27 September at 07:53 | 61 MW | 9 | N21 |
| 27 September at 07:08 | 4 MW | 2 | N20 |
| 27 September at 06:46 | 9 MW | 3 | N |
| 26 September at 20:30 | 2 MW | 2 | N21 |
| 26 September at 09:54 | 5 MW | 1 | Aqua |
| 26 September at 08:10 | 15 MW | 2 | N21 |
| 26 September at 07:25 | 24 MW | 6 | N20 |
| 25 September at 20:49 | 2 MW | 2 | N21 |
| 25 September at 20:06 | 5 MW | 6 | N20 |
| 25 September at 19:45 | 3 MW | 3 | N |
| 25 September at 07:25 | 5 MW | 1 | N |
| 24 September at 07:08 | 21 MW | 4 | N21 |
| 23 September at 09:37 | 10 MW | 1 | Aqua |
| 23 September at 08:22 | 2 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 23 September at 08:03 | 15 MW | 4 | N |
| 23 September at 07:25 | 36 MW | 6 | N21 |
| 23 September at 06:42 | 4 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 22 September at 21:02 | 1 MW | 2 | N20 |
| 22 September at 20:41 | 5 MW | 5 | N |
| 22 September at 20:06 | 7 MW | 3 | N21 |
| 22 September at 19:20 | 1 MW | 1 | N20 |
| 22 September at 08:22 | 5 MW | 1 | N |
8 other fires near Shanxi (CN)
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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