Fire near Tamatave (MG)

18.10°S, 48.72°E · first detected on 21 October at 10:22

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 21 October at 10:22 to 23 October at 13:30, that is 2 days, through 85 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,771 ha.

Detected extent: 1,771 ha
Cumulative power: 1,416 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 83 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 85
Estimated emissions: 3.6 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 21 October 2026 to 23 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 5 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
23 October at 15:19	37 MW	2	Met9
23 October at 15:12	43 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 15:04	138 MW	4	Met9
23 October at 15:02	48 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 14:49	39 MW	2	Met9
23 October at 14:34	60 MW	3	Met9
23 October at 14:19	126 MW	5	Met9
23 October at 14:12	60 MW	4	Met12
23 October at 14:04	178 MW	4	Met9
23 October at 14:02	51 MW	3	Met12
23 October at 13:52	78 MW	5	Met12
23 October at 13:49	77 MW	3	Met9
23 October at 13:42	144 MW	9	Met12
23 October at 13:34	154 MW	5	Met9
23 October at 13:32	165 MW	8	Met12
23 October at 13:30	255 MW	20	N
23 October at 13:22	235 MW	9	Met12
23 October at 13:19	344 MW	5	Met9
23 October at 13:12	229 MW	9	Met12
23 October at 13:04	388 MW	4	Met9
23 October at 13:02	159 MW	4	Met12
23 October at 12:52	195 MW	6	Met12
23 October at 12:51	745 MW	38	N21
23 October at 12:49	442 MW	8	Met9
23 October at 12:42	267 MW	8	Met12
23 October at 12:34	153 MW	3	Met9
23 October at 12:32	223 MW	10	Met12
23 October at 12:22	324 MW	11	Met12
23 October at 12:19	141 MW	3	Met9
23 October at 12:12	301 MW	7	Met12
23 October at 12:11	556 MW	25	N20
23 October at 12:04	603 MW	9	Met9
23 October at 12:02	339 MW	9	Met12
23 October at 11:52	240 MW	8	Met12
23 October at 11:49	359 MW	4	Met9
23 October at 11:49	429 MW	25	N
23 October at 11:42	510 MW	12	Met12
23 October at 11:34	499 MW	6	Met9
23 October at 11:32	328 MW	12	Met12
23 October at 11:22	275 MW	9	Met12
23 October at 11:19	405 MW	6	Met9
23 October at 11:12	324 MW	11	Met12
23 October at 11:04	555 MW	7	Met9
23 October at 11:02	180 MW	5	Met12
23 October at 10:52	329 MW	8	Met12
23 October at 10:49	506 MW	6	Met9
23 October at 10:42	243 MW	6	Met12
23 October at 10:34	68 MW	1	Met9
23 October at 10:32	93 MW	3	Met12
23 October at 10:22	121 MW	5	Met12
23 October at 10:19	169 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 14:36	27 MW	3	Aqua
22 October at 14:32	12 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 14:22	25 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 14:12	35 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 14:02	10 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 13:52	45 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 13:32	10 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 13:13	88 MW	6	N21
22 October at 13:12	40 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 13:02	106 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 12:49	64 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 12:28	15 MW	4	N20
22 October at 12:09	21 MW	3	N
21 October at 18:04	70 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 15:04	45 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 14:49	71 MW	3	Met9
21 October at 14:42	21 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 14:34	105 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 14:22	35 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:19	106 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 14:12	79 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 14:04	94 MW	3	Met9
21 October at 14:02	13 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:52	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:49	55 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 13:42	46 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 13:34	73 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 13:32	32 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:45	126 MW	7	N20
21 October at 12:28	65 MW	8	N
21 October at 11:49	64 MW	4	N21
21 October at 11:42	89 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:32	69 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 10:22	32 MW	1	Met12

8 other fires near Tamatave (MG)

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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