Fire near Zambézie (MZ)

16.40°S, 35.52°E

What the satellites measured

This fire is not in the last thirty days of the fire list, but detections remain around this point: the curve below is rebuilt from the raw pixels, which are kept for a hundred days.

“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
23 October at 01:18	3 MW	1	N20
23 October at 00:59	2 MW	1	N
22 October at 14:10	12 MW	4	N20
22 October at 13:49	173 MW	24	N
22 October at 13:13	94 MW	9	N21
22 October at 12:28	37 MW	8	N20
21 October at 15:40	7 MW	1	Aqua
21 October at 14:08	6 MW	1	N
21 October at 13:32	48 MW	8	N21
21 October at 12:47	38 MW	7	N20
21 October at 12:32	14 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:28	28 MW	2	N
21 October at 12:22	81 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 12:19	28 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 12:12	72 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 08:03	5 MW	1	Terra
20 October at 15:22	23 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 15:12	43 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 14:52	24 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 14:42	36 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 13:49	77 MW	18	N21
20 October at 13:42	14 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:32	15 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:22	41 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 13:06	72 MW	5	N20
20 October at 13:02	15 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 12:52	25 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 12:45	69 MW	14	N
20 October at 11:12	14 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 08:42	10 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 14:08	95 MW	10	N21
19 October at 13:25	149 MW	21	N20
19 October at 13:06	78 MW	14	N
19 October at 12:28	69 MW	9	N21
18 October at 23:57	1 MW	1	N21
18 October at 15:25	36 MW	2	Aqua
18 October at 13:45	88 MW	12	N20
18 October at 13:23	253 MW	20	N
18 October at 12:47	212 MW	24	N21
18 October at 00:16	1 MW	1	N21
17 October at 14:02	41 MW	9	N20
17 October at 13:45	178 MW	21	N
17 October at 13:06	101 MW	14	N21
17 October at 12:21	19 MW	2	N20
17 October at 01:12	1 MW	1	N
16 October at 15:44	8 MW	1	Aqua
16 October at 14:02	48 MW	14	N
16 October at 13:25	168 MW	20	N21
16 October at 12:43	104 MW	14	N20
16 October at 00:10	2 MW	1	N20
15 October at 14:19	19 MW	2	N
15 October at 13:45	153 MW	10	N21
15 October at 13:00	248 MW	21	N20
15 October at 12:41	58 MW	10	N
14 October at 14:02	193 MW	20	N21
14 October at 13:19	204 MW	23	N20
14 October at 13:00	248 MW	34	N
14 October at 12:21	179 MW	18	N21
13 October at 15:29	6 MW	1	Aqua
13 October at 13:38	193 MW	29	N20
12 October at 13:00	247 MW	33	N21
11 October at 14:17	52 MW	6	N20
11 October at 13:55	139 MW	20	N
11 October at 13:19	104 MW	17	N21
11 October at 12:34	73 MW	19	N20
10 October at 15:14	11 MW	1	Aqua
10 October at 14:14	17 MW	4	N
10 October at 13:38	100 MW	18	N21
10 October at 12:53	119 MW	23	N20
10 October at 12:34	67 MW	9	N
9 October at 13:55	156 MW	18	N21
9 October at 13:10	218 MW	50	N20
9 October at 12:51	100 MW	16	N
9 October at 12:15	85 MW	6	N21
8 October at 15:38	26 MW	3	Aqua
8 October at 13:32	178 MW	32	N20
8 October at 13:13	187 MW	22	N
8 October at 12:34	69 MW	14	N21
7 October at 13:49	135 MW	24	N20
7 October at 13:30	212 MW	58	N
7 October at 12:53	140 MW	23	N21
6 October at 14:08	32 MW	4	N20
6 October at 13:49	26 MW	6	N
6 October at 13:13	26 MW	9	N21
29 September at 14:19	5 MW	1	N
29 September at 13:45	11 MW	1	N21
29 September at 13:00	35 MW	6	N20
29 September at 12:41	6 MW	1	N
29 September at 01:12	4 MW	2	N21
28 September at 14:02	161 MW	16	N21
28 September at 13:17	552 MW	61	N20
28 September at 12:21	115 MW	10	N21
28 September at 01:31	3 MW	2	N21
28 September at 00:46	23 MW	11	N20
28 September at 00:29	3 MW	4	N
27 September at 15:12	182 MW	11	Aqua
27 September at 13:38	453 MW	46	N20
27 September at 13:17	436 MW	46	N
27 September at 12:43	343 MW	29	N21
27 September at 01:05	5 MW	5	N20
27 September at 00:46	1 MW	2	N
27 September at 00:10	3 MW	2	N21
26 September at 13:55	228 MW	49	N20
26 September at 13:36	322 MW	58	N
26 September at 13:00	344 MW	49	N21
26 September at 08:12	13 MW	2	Terra
26 September at 01:03	1 MW	2	N
26 September at 00:29	2 MW	2	N21
25 September at 15:33	312 MW	28	Aqua
25 September at 14:16	194 MW	17	N20
25 September at 13:55	528 MW	62	N
25 September at 13:19	409 MW	41	N21
25 September at 12:34	221 MW	30	N20
25 September at 01:44	1 MW	2	N20
25 September at 01:24	3 MW	2	N
25 September at 00:48	5 MW	4	N21
25 September at 00:03	4 MW	3	N20
24 September at 20:43	33 MW	3	Terra
24 September at 14:57	108 MW	3	Aqua
24 September at 14:14	452 MW	52	N
24 September at 13:38	762 MW	88	N21
24 September at 12:53	483 MW	80	N20
24 September at 12:34	135 MW	20	N
24 September at 01:41	1 MW	1	N
24 September at 01:05	3 MW	2	N21
24 September at 00:22	2 MW	4	N20
23 September at 15:57	215 MW	6	Aqua
23 September at 13:55	698 MW	93	N21
23 September at 13:10	567 MW	90	N20
23 September at 12:51	666 MW	75	N
23 September at 12:15	335 MW	20	N21
23 September at 07:53	12 MW	1	Terra

8 other fires near Zambézie (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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