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About

The active fire locations are processed by LANCE using the standard MODIS MOD14/MYD14 Fire and Thermal Anomalies product. Each active fire location represents the center of a 1km pixel that is flagged by the algorithm as containing one or more fires within the pixel. FIRMS also offers monthly MODIS Burned Area (MCD45) images through Web Fire Mapper.

FIRMS hosts the following data:

NRT MODIS Active Fire Data

Collection 5 MODIS Active Fire Data

MODIS Burned Area

Use of FIRMS Data

For acknowledgement of FIRMS data and imagery:

We acknowledge the use of FIRMS data and imagery from the Land Atmosphere Near-real time Capability for EOS (LANCE) system operated by the NASA/GSFC/Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) with funding provided by NASA/HQ.

For online reference:
NASA FIRMS, 2012. MODIS Hotspot / Active Fire Detections. Data set. Available on-line [http://earthdata.nasa.gov/firms].

We recommend that the data from FIRMS be acquired directly from LANCE and not through other sources that may change the data in some way.

Please read the disclaimer for more information about using this data.

Attribute Fields for the MODIS fire data

AttributeShort DescriptionLong Description
LatitudeLatitudeCenter of 1km fire pixel but not necessarily the actual location of the fire as one or more fires can be detected within the 1km pixel.
LongitudeLongitudeCenter of 1km fire pixel but not necessarily the actual location of the fire as one or more fires can be detected within the 1km pixel.
BrightnessBrightness Temperature (Kelvin)Brightness temperature of the fire pixel measured in Kelvin.
ScanAlong Scan pixel sizeThe algorithm produces 1km fire pixels but MODIS pixels get bigger toward the edge of scan. Scan and track reflect actual pixel size.
TrackAlong Track pixel sizeThe algorithm produces 1km fire pixels but MODIS pixels get bigger toward the edge of scan. Scan and track reflect actual pixel size.
Acq_DateAcquisition DateData of MODIS acquisition.
Acq_TimeAcquisition TimeTime of acquisition.
SatelliteSatelliteA = Aqua and T = Terra.
ConfidenceConfidence (0-100%)This value is based on a collection of intermediate algorithm quantities used in the detection process. It is intended to help users gauge the quality of individual hotspot/fire pixels. Confidence estimates range between 0 and 100% and are assigned one of the three fire classes (low-confidence fire, nominal-confidence fire, or high-confidence fire).
VersionVersion (Collection and source)The number before the decimal refers to the collection (e.g. MODIS Collection 5). The number after the decimal indicates the source of Level 1B data; 0 indicates data processed in near-real time by NASA-LANCE, .1 indicates data sourced from MODAPS (with a 2 month lag) and processed by FIRMS. For example, data with the version listed as “5.0” is collection 5 are processed by NASA-LANCE; "5.1" is Collection 5 data processed by MODAPS. Information on collections and on the differences between Rapid Response and MODAPS.
Bright_T31Brightness temperature 31 (Kelvin)Channel 31 brightness temperature of the fire pixel measured in Kelvin.
FRPFire Radiative Power (MW - MegaWatts)Depicts the pixel-integrated fire radiative power in MW (MegaWatts).