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FIRMS Layer Information
BASEMAPS
LAYERS
OVERLAYS
FAQ
Blue Marble

This map presents low-resolution imagery for the world and high-resolution imagery for the United States and other metropolitan areas around the world. The map includes NASA Blue Marble: Next Generation 500m resolution imagery at small scales (above 1:1,000,000), i-cubed 15m eSAT imagery at medium-to-large scales (down to 1:70,000) for the world, and USGS 15m Landsat imagery for Antarctica. It also includes 1m i-cubed Nationwide Select imagery for the continental United States, and GeoEye IKONOS 1m resolution imagery for Hawaii, parts of Alaska, and several hundred metropolitan areas around the world. For more information on this map, including the terms of use, visit http://goto.arcgisonline.com/maps/ESRI_Imagery_World_2D

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Street

This worldwide street map presents highway-level data for the world and street-level data for the United States, Canada, Europe, Southern Africa and elsewhere. This comprehensive street map includes highways, major roads, minor roads, railways, water features, administrative boundaries, cities, parks, and landmarks, overlaid on shaded relief imagery for added context. The street map was developed by Esri using DeLorme data and NAVTEQ street data. Coverage for street-level data elsewhere in the world includes Mexico (Mexico City only), Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg only), and Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara only). For more information on this map, including the terms of use, visit http://goto.arcgisonline.com/maps/ESRI_StreetMap_World_2D

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Topographic

This map presents land cover imagery for the world and detailed topographic maps for the United States. The map includes the National Park Service (NPS) Natural Earth physical map at 1.24km per pixel for the world at small scales, i-cubed eTOPO 1:250,000-scale maps for the contiguous United States at medium scales, and National Geographic TOPO! 1:100,000 and 1:24,000-scale maps (1:250,000 and 1:63,000 in Alaska) for the United States at large scales. The TOPO! maps are seamless, scanned images of United States Geological Survey (USGS) paper topographic maps. For more information on this map, including the terms of use, visit http://goto.arcgisonline.com/maps/NGS_Topo_US_2D

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MODIS (Aqua/Terra) Corrected Reflectance (True Color)

MODIS/Aqua Temporal Coverage: 3 July 2002 - present
MODIS/Terra Temporal Coverage: 24 February 2000 - present

True Color: Red = Band 1, Green = Band 4, Blue = Band 3

These images are called true-color or natural color because this combination of wavelengths is similar to what the human eye would see. The images are natural-looking images of land surface, oceanic and atmospheric features. The downside of this set of bands is that they tend to produce a hazy image.

The MODIS Corrected Reflectance imagery is available only as near real-time imagery. The imagery can be visualized in Worldview, the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) and Rapid Response. The sensor resolution is 500 m and 250 m (Bands 1 and 2 have a sensor resolution of 250 m, Bands 3 – 7 have a sensor resolution of 500m, and Bands 8 - 36 are 1 km. Band 1 is used to sharpen Band 3, 4, 6, and 7), imagery resolution is 250 m, and the temporal resolution is daily.

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MODIS (Aqua/Terra) Corrected Reflectance (Bands 7,2,1)

MODIS/Aqua Temporal Coverage: 3 July 2002 - present
MODIS/Terra Temporal Coverage: 24 February 2000 - present
False Color: Red = Band 7, Green = Band 2, Blue = Band 1

This combination is most useful for distinguishing burn scars from naturally low vegetation or bare soil and enhancing floods. This combination can also be used to distinguish snow and ice from clouds. Snow and ice are very reflective in the visible part of the spectrum (Band 1), and absorbent in Bands 2 (near infrared) and 7 (short-wave infrared, or SWIR). Thick ice and snow appear vivid sky blue, while small ice crystals in high-level clouds will also appear blueish, and water clouds will appear white.

The MODIS Corrected Reflectance imagery is available only as near real-time imagery. The imagery can be visualized in Worldview, the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) and Rapid Response. The sensor resolution is 500 m and 250 m (Bands 1 and 2 have a sensor resolution of 250 m, Bands 3 – 7 have a sensor resolution of 500 m, and Bands 8 - 36 are 1 km. Band 1 is used to sharpen Band 3, 4, 6, and 7), imagery resolution is 250 m, and the temporal resolution is daily.

Vegetation and bare ground
Vegetation is very reflective in the near infrared (Band 2), and absorbent in Band 1 and Band 7. Assigning that band to green means even the smallest hint of vegetation will appear bright green in the image. Naturally bare soil, like a desert, is reflective in all bands used in this image, but more so in the SWIR (Band 7, red) and so soils will often have a pinkish tinge.

Burned areas
Burned areas or fire-affected areas are characterized by deposits of charcoal and ash, removal of vegetation and/or the alteration of vegetation structure. When bare soil becomes exposed, the brightness in Band 1 may increase, but that may be offset by the presence of black carbon residue; the near infrared (Band 2) will become darker, and Band 7 becomes more reflective. When assigned to red in the image, Band 7 will show burn scars as deep or bright red, depending on the type of vegetation burned, the amount of residue, or the completeness of the burn.

Water
Liquid water on the ground appears very dark since it absorbs in the red and the SWIR. Sediments in water appear dark blue. Ice and snow appear as bright turquoise. Clouds comprised of small water droplets scatter light equally in both the visible and the SWIR and will appear white. These clouds are usually lower to the ground and warmer. High and cold clouds are comprised of ice crystals and will appear turquoise.

MODIS Corrected Reflectance vs. MODIS Surface Reflectance
The MODIS Corrected Reflectance algorithm utilizes MODIS Level 1B data (the calibrated, geolocated radiances). It is not a standard, science quality product. The purpose of this algorithm is to provide natural-looking images by removing gross atmospheric effects, such as Rayleigh scattering, from MODIS visible bands 1-7. The algorithm was developed by the original MODIS Rapid Response team to address the needs of the fire monitoring community who want to see smoke. Corrected Reflectance shows smoke more clearly than the standard Surface Reflectance product. In contrast, the MODIS Land Surface Reflectance product (MOD09) is a more complete atmospheric correction algorithm that includes aerosol correction, and is designed to derive land surface properties. In clear atmospheric conditions the Corrected Reflectance product is very similar to the MOD09 product, but they depart from each other in presence of aerosols. If you wish to perform a complete atmospheric correction, please do not use the Corrected Reflectance algorithm. An additional difference is that the Land Surface Reflectance product is only tuned for calculating the reflectance over land surfaces.

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MODIS (Aqua/Terra) Fire and Thermal Anomalies

MODIS/Aqua Temporal Coverage: 3 July 2002 - present
MODIS/Terra Temporal Coverage: 1 November 2000 - present

The MODIS Fire and Thermal Anomalies layer shows active fire detections and thermal anomalies, such as volcanoes, and gas flares. Fires can be set naturally, such as by lightning, or by humans, whether intentionally or accidentally. Fire is often thought of as a menace and detriment to life, but in some ecosystems it is necessary to maintain the equilibrium, for example, some plants only release seeds under high temperatures that can only be achieved by fire, fires can also clear undergrowth and brush to help restore forests to good health, humans use fire in slash and burn agriculture, to clear away last year’s crop stubble and provide nutrients for the soil and to clear areas for pasture. The fire layer is useful for studying the spatial and temporal distribution of fire, to locate persistent hot spots such as volcanoes and gas flares, to locate the source of air pollution from smoke that may have adverse human health impacts.

The MODIS Fire and Thermal Anomalies product is available from the Terra (MOD14) and Aqua (MYD14) satellites as well as a combined Terra and Aqua (MCD14) satellite product. The sensor resolution is 1 km, and the temporal resolution is daily. The thermal anomalies are represented as red points (approximate center of a 1 km pixel).

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VIIRS Corrected Reflectance (True Color)

Temporal coverage: 24 November 2015 - present
True Color: Red = Band I1, Green = Band M4, Blue = Band M3

These images are called true-color or natural color because this combination of wavelengths is similar to what the human eye would see. The images are natural-looking images of land surface, oceanic and atmospheric features.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Corrected Reflectance imagery is available only as near real-time imagery. The VIIRS instrument in on board the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi-National Polar orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite. The imagery can be visualized in Worldview, the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) and Rapid Response. The sensor resolution is 750 m and 375 m (M Bands are 750 m, I Bands are 375 m), imagery resolution is 250 m, and the temporal resolution is daily.

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VIIRS Corrected Reflectance (Bands M11-I2-I1)

Temporal coverage: 24 November 2015 - present
False Color: Red = M11, Green = I2, Blue = I1

This combination is most useful for distinguishing burn scars from naturally low vegetation or bare soil and enhancing floods.

This combination can also be used to distinguish snow and ice from clouds. Snow and ice are very reflective in the visible part of the spectrum (Band I1), and absorbent in Bands I2 (near infrared) and M11 (short-wave infrared, or SWIR). Thick ice and snow appear vivid sky blue, while small ice crystals in high-level clouds will also appear blueish, and water clouds will appear white.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Corrected Reflectance imagery is available only as near real-time imagery. The VIIRS instrument in on board the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi-National Polar orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite. The imagery can be visualized in Worldview, the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) and Rapid Response.The sensor resolution is 750 m and 375 m (M Bands are 750 m, I Bands are 375 m), imagery resolution is 250 m, and the temporal resolution is daily.

Vegetation and bare ground
Vegetation is very reflective in the near infrared (Band I2), and absorbent in Band I1 and Band M11. Assigning that band to green means even the smallest hint of vegetation will appear bright green in the image. Naturally bare soil, like a desert, is reflective in all bands used in this image, but more so in the SWIR (Band M11, red) and so soils will often have a pinkish tinge.

Burned areas
Burned areas or fire-affected areas are characterized by deposits of charcoal and ash, removal of vegetation and/or the alteration of vegetation structure. When bare soil becomes exposed, the brightness in Band I1 may increase, but that may be offset by the presence of black carbon residue; the near infrared (Band I2) will become darker, and Band M11 becomes more reflective. When assigned to red in the image, Band M11 will show burn scars as deep or bright red, depending on the type of vegetation burned, the amount of residue, or the completeness of the burn.

Water
Liquid water on the ground appears very dark since it absorbs in the red and the SWIR. Sediments in water appear dark blue. Ice and snow appear as bright turquoise. Clouds comprised of small water droplets scatter light equally in both the visible and the SWIR and will appear white. These clouds are usually lower to the ground and warmer. High and cold clouds are comprised of ice crystals and will appear turquoise.

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VIIRS Fires and Thermal Anomalies

Temporal coverage: 20 January 2012 - present

The VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) Fire layer shows active fire detections and thermal anomalies, such as volcanoes, and gas flares. Fires can be set naturally, such as by lightning, or by humans, whether intentionally or accidentally. Fire is often thought of as a menace and detriment to life, but in some ecosystems it is necessary to maintain the equilibrium, for example, some plants only release seeds under high temperatures that can only be achieved by fire, fires can also clear undergrowth and brush to help restore forests to good health, humans use fire in slash and burn agriculture, to clear away last year’s crop stubble and provide nutrients for the soil and to clear areas for pasture. The fire layer is useful for studying the spatial and temporal distribution of fire, to locate persistent hot spots such as volcanoes and gas flares, to locate the source of air pollution from smoke that may have adverse human health impacts.

The 375m I-band data complements the MODIS fire detections; they both show good agreement in hotspot detection but the improved spatial resolution of the 375m data provides a greater response over fires of relatively small areas and provides improved mapping of large fire perimeters. The 375m data also has improved nighttime performance. Consequently, these data are well suited for use in support of fire management (e.g., near real-time alert systems), as well as other science applications requiring improved fire mapping fidelity.

The VIIRS Fire and Thermal Anomalies product is available from the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi-National Polar orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite. The sensor resolution is 375 m, imagery resolution is 250 m, and the temporal resolution is twice daily. The thermal anomalies are represented as red points (approximate center of a 375m pixel).

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MODIS Terra/Aqua Global Burned Area Product (MCD64A1)

Temporal coverage: November 2000 - present

Burned areas are characterized by deposits of charcoal and ash, removal of vegetation, and alteration of the vegetation structure. The MODIS burned area mapping algorithm takes advantage of these spectral, temporal, and structural changes. It detects the approximate date of burning at a spatial resolution of 500 m by locating the occurrence of rapid changes in daily surface reflectance time series data. The algorithm maps the spatial extent of recent fires and not of fires that occurred in previous seasons or years.

The latest version (Collection 6) of the MODIS Global Burned Area Product was released in 2017. The new algorithm is designed to be extremely tolerant of cloud and aerosol contamination, which affected the Collection 5.1 MCD45A1 product. As a consequence, the Collection 6 MCD64A1 product has significantly better detection of small burns, a modest reduction in burn-date temporal uncertainty, and a large reduction in the extent of unmapped areas compared to the C5.1 products.

Please see the MODIS Burned Area Product User's Guide for detailed information about the MODIS burned area product suite.

Countries

Produced from a vector layer containing country borders found at Natural Earth, a public domain map dataset.

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European Regional Protected Areas

The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global database of marine and terrestrial protected areas and is one of the key global biodiversity datasets being widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, International secretariats and others to inform planning, policy decisions and management.

The WDPA is a joint project between UN Environment and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The compilation and management of the WDPA is carried out by UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), in collaboration with governments, non-governmental organisations, academia and industry. There are monthly updates of the data which are made available online through the Protected Planet website where the data is both viewable and downloadable.

Source: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) August 2018, Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN

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Protected Areas

The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global database of marine and terrestrial protected areas and is one of the key global biodiversity datasets being widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, International secretariats and others to inform planning, policy decisions and management.

The WDPA is a joint project between UN Environment and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The compilation and management of the WDPA is carried out by UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), in collaboration with governments, non-governmental organisations, academia and industry. There are monthly updates of the data which are made available online through the Protected Planet website where the data is both viewable and downloadable.

Source: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) August 2018, Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN

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Welcome to FIRMS!

FIRMS Fire Map allows you to interactively browse the full archive of global active fire detections from MODIS and VIIRS. Near real-time fire data are available within approximately 3 hours of satellite overpass and imagery within 4-5 hours. Use the features described below to navigate FIRMS.

Quick View displays fires detected today (GMT), over the last 24 hours, 48 hours or 7 days. Fires are displayed as soon as they are processed. Add the corrected reflectance imagery from MODIS or VIIRS. Please note today’s imagery might appear blank if it has not yet been processed.


Advanced view displays MODIS or VIIRS for a specific time period.


Use the tool bar to pan, identify fire attribute information, change the base map or add overlays

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Tour - Quick View

The Quick View shows fires detected today (GMT), over the last 24 hours, 48 hours or 7 days.

For each supported instrument, there is an option to select Day / Night fires.

Click on Show and use dropdown menu to select FRP or Confidence values.

FRP = Fire Radiative Power; depicts the pixel-integrated fire radiative power in MW (megawatts).

Confidence helps users gauge the quality of individual hotspot/fire pixels. Values are based on a collection of intermediate algorithm quantities used in the detection process. For VIIRS confidence values are set to low, nominal and high. For MODIS confidence estimates range between 0 and 100% For more on VIIRS. More (firms-faq#ed-confidence)

Use the checkbox and drop down menu to view either VIIRS, MODIS/Terra or MODIS/Aqua corrected reflectance imagery "true color" or the VIIRS M11-I2-I1 and MODIS 7,2,1 (RGB) band combination and also the satellite orbit tracks.
The imagery provides an indication of cloud cover and visible smoke, and the 7,2,1 band combination can be useful for showing area burned.

The date slider arrows provide satellite imagery date selection.

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Tour - Advanced View

The Advanced view allows composite view of fires up to 1 month date-range.

  • Use the two date pickers to select Start and End date
  • Choose between Grids / Points to display two different fire data views

Grids - provides an overview or 'heatmap' view of active fire detections.
The grid size is 0.25 degree (approx 27.8 x 27.8 km; or 17.4 x 17.4 miles).
When show labels when available is selected, each grid will show its total number of fires. The map has to be at about country level zoom level.
The Show fire count histogram provides a quick summary of fires in 10 bins.

Points - displays the individual fires on the map. There is an option to view fires based on their data source origin.

  • Combined NRT + SP (Near Real-Time + Standard Processing)
  • NRT - Near Real Time (NRT): Data for the past 2 years
  • SP - Standard Processing: All available data with a 2 - 6 month lag

Auto switch - if selected, it automatically switches between Grids and Points at country level map extent.

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Tour - Basemaps / Overlays

Click on for detailed information about the layer


BASEMAPS - background layers

  • NASA Blue Marble - cloud free image of Earth (ESRI)
  • Esri Street Map - administrative / street map (ESRI)
  • Topographic - displays basic Earth topography (ESRI)

OVERLAYS - provide administrative layers that can be displayed on top of satellite imagery

  • Countries - country outline with ability to select country labels
  • WDPA Protected Areas - administrative layer for protected areas
  • WDPA European Regional Protected Areas - administrative layer for European regional protected areas

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Tour - Identify

IDENTIFY - Click on the identify tool then use it to select a fire or protected area and get additional information

The corresponding tabs will show up to 10 records for each visible satellite / instrument.

FAQ: VIIRS attributes MODIS attributes

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Tour - Menus

Menus link to additional features FIRMS site provides
  • Fire Map


Fire Map - current selection
  • Active Fire Data


Active Fire Data - download recent fire data in SHP, KML or CSV files for geographic regions
  • Fire Alerts


Fire Alerts - subscribe to fire alerts
  • Archive Download


Archive Download - download fire data for a custom region and dates
  • Web Services


Web Services - services for incorporating fire data into user's GIS application
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FIRMS Site - About

Welcome to FIRMS Map Viewer

FIRMS Fire Map allows you to interactively browse the full archive of global active fire detections from MODIS and VIIRS. Near real-time fire data are available within approximately 3 hours of satellite overpass and imagery within 4-5 hours.

Technology

  • OpenLayers
  • MapServer
  • Javascript libraries: jquery, jquery-ui, Spectrum Colorpicker, DataTables

Imagery / Data

  • FIRMS
  • ESRI
  • Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS)
  • World Database on Protected Areas

Usage

NASA supports an open data policy and we encourage publication of data from FIRMS; when doing so for image captions, please cite it as "NASA FIRMS" and also consider including a direct link to the imagery in FIRMS.

For acknowledgment in scientific journals, please use: "We acknowledge the use of imagery from the NASA FIRMS application (https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/) operated by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) project."

Disclaimer

The information presented through this interface is provided "as is" and users bear all responsibility and liability for their use of the data. Please read the full disclaimer.

License

Copyright © 2013 - 2019 United States Government as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. All Rights Reserved.

NASA Official: Ed Masuoka