This data aims to shed light on one of the most basic aspects of fire activity: where and when fires occurs in the landscape. There are many other important measures of fire activity, including how fast a fire spreads and how severely (or patchily) a fire burns within the overall fire footprint.
Remote sensing records are generally only a few decades old, but they give a truly global snapshot of fire activity. These satellite records can be compared with fire agncy records.
Based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) monthly burned area product.
This data shows us where fires have occurred in the landscape, according to satellite records. These records include unplanned and planned fires on public and private land. Maps show the spatial pattern of fires. Graphs show the pattern of fire over time for different regions. Major fires from the 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2020 seasons can clearly be seen in the Map and Graph sections. Compared to these major fire years, fire activity is relatively low in other years. These satellite records began around 2000. We use a fire year rather than a calendar year e.g. the 2020 fire year runs from July 2019 to June 2020.
Hover over the map and graphs to get more info. Click on the range to see changes between years.