FIRMS - Fire Map

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

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

Topographic

This layer portrays elevation as an artistic hillshade. The map is designed to be used as a backdrop for topographical, soil, hydro, landcover or other outdoor recreational maps.
The map was compiled from a variety of sources from several data providers. The basemap has global coverage down to a scale of ~1:72k. In the United States, Western Europe, Finland and Norway coverage is provided to ~1:18k. Additionally, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and select areas of the U.S. are provided down to ~1:9k.

Light Gray

This web map provides a detailed vector basemap for the world featuring a neutral background style with minimal colors, labels, and features. It uses WGS84 Geographic, version 2 tiling scheme.

Dark Gray

This web map provides a detailed vector basemap for the world featuring a neutral background style with minimal colors, labels, and features. It uses WGS84 Geographic, version 2 tiling scheme.

Imagery

World Imagery (WGS84) provides one meter or better satellite and aerial imagery in many parts of the world and lower resolution satellite imagery worldwide. The map includes 15m TerraColor imagery at small and mid-scales (~1:591M down to ~1:72k) and 2.5m SPOT Imagery (~1:288k to ~1:72k) for the world. The map features 0.3m resolution imagery in the continental United States and parts of Western Europe from DigitalGlobe. Additional DigitalGlobe sub-meter imagery is featured in many parts of the world. In the United States, 1 meter or better resolution NAIP imagery is available. In other parts of the world, imagery at different resolutions has been contributed by the GIS User Community. In select communities, very high resolution imagery (to 0.03m) is available down to ~1:280 scale.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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).

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

This (v2) vector tile layer provides a detailed reference layer for the world designed to be overlaid on imagery. It uses WGS84 Geographic, version 2 tiling scheme.

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

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