Observations, with context

Start with a place and a time

1. Choose an area. Use the Global overview, a regional preset, or custom coordinates and a radius. Regional presets are circular searches, not administrative boundaries.
2. Set the observation window. Choose the last 6, 12 or 24 hours and, if useful, a detection confidence filter. Times are shown in UTC. Source confidence describes detection quality, not wildfire risk.
3. Inspect the observations. Select a map point or use Inspect in the list to see its time, coordinates and available source measurements. Check the source state and last fetched time.
4. Take the context with you. Download a Markdown or JSON briefing, or export the shown observations as CSV. Save an area on this browser to revisit it; saved areas do not send notifications.

From NASA observations to your selection

The app retrieves NASA LANCE FIRMS’ public Suomi NPP VIIRS Collection 2 global 24-hour data file. It validates the source rows, then filters observations by your selected area, UTC time window and detection confidence.

The prominent count describes matching detections in the retrieved data. If source rows are rejected, the count is qualified as matching validated records and the complete source total is unavailable. The map, list, hourly chart and exports share a display subset of up to 1,000 records, newest observations first. The exact matched count and plotted limit remain beside the map.

The regional briefing highlights source state and observation times. Downloads include the full briefing, selection, data mode, source provenance and original timestamps.

What a detection can tell you

These are satellite active-fire/thermal-anomaly detections. They are not confirmed wildfire incidents, fire perimeters, evacuation orders or spread forecasts. Several detections can relate to the same incident. Fire radiative power (FRP) is reported in megawatts (MW); it is not burned area or a measure of conditions at your location.

This app uses one sensor’s retrieved file. Satellite overpass timing, clouds and sensor coverage affect what is observed. It does not provide continuous or all-satellite coverage. Missing detections do not establish safety; use the relevant authorities for emergency information.

Read the clocks and source state

Observed at is the satellite acquisition time. Last fetched is when the app retrieved the dataset. A new fetch can still contain older observations, and the filename alone does not establish observation age.

Live source uses the retrieved public feed. Snapshot means older data is retained after a retrieval failure, with its original times. Historical sample · Replay is an incomplete 25-row sample evaluated against a fixed historical clock; it cannot establish a global or regional total.

A valid empty response means no matching detections in the retrieved data. Data unavailable means retrieval failed and a count cannot be established. These states are shown separately.

Go to the source

Explore the official NASA FIRMS viewer, active-fire downloads and NASA FIRMS documentation. The explorer’s Sources & data limits section includes the exact dataset link and retrieval details.