August 2001–August 2002 animation (2.8 MB Quicktime)
Dramatic new satellite maps showing fire activity across the entire Earth forthe past year are providing a unique picture of seasonal and yearly fireactivity. The maps are a milestone in the use of satellite data for creating along-term fire record that is crucial for understanding the impact of fire onlife and climate.
Using daily, global fire detection provided by the Moderate Resolution ImagingSpectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, scientists at Goddard SpaceFlight Center and the University of Maryland have been mapping fire activity forthe entire surface of the Earth every day since February 2000. Never before havescientists had the opportunity to map fire across the entire Earth with suchdetail, accuracy, and frequency.
Christopher Justice, of the Department of Geography at University of Maryland,is the project’s lead scientist. He says, “Fire plays a central role in theEarth System. It impacts plant and animal habitat, air and water quality,greenhouse gas emissions, and human lives. MODIS’ fire detection capabilitiesare a big step forward in satellite-based fire mapping. MODIS can detect firesacross the entire Earth more accurately than any previous satellite sensor, andit has a higher temperature threshold, which means it can tell the temperatureof even very hot fires.” The near-daily global coverage gives scientists anexcellent opportunity to study global fire behavior.
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The MODIS maps demonstrate the extreme fire seasons seen this year in the US,Australia, and Siberia. The maps also demonstrate fire behavior that wouldsurprise most people, highlighting the contrast between fire size and intensityand frequency. Across the United States, large, intense fires in Western forestsattract a lot of attention, but it is the smaller, more numerous fires in theSoutheast that dominate the maps. Across the world, the widespread fires thatburn each year in the savannas of Africa, Australia, and Brazil dwarf even themost significant fire season in the western United States as far as totalacreage and number of fires.
The image above shows fires during August 15–22, 2002. The greatestconcentrations of fires are in the Amazon, Southern Africa, and Eastern Europe.In addition, there is a dense concentration of fires in Siberia.
For more information, read Fire Towers in the Sky: New Maps Show Annual Global Portrait of Fire and visit the MODIS Fire and Thermal Anomalies Website
References & Resources
Image by David Olsen, based on data provided by the MODIS Land Team
