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Full catalog/VJ114
VJ114·v002·dataset

Where fires are burning (VIIRS, NOAA-20)

VIIRS/JPSS1 Thermal Anomalies/Fire 6-Min L2 Swath 750m V002
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 2 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Locations and intensity of active fires and other unusually hot spots, captured in short 6-minute satellite passes at 750-meter detail, along with brightness temperatures (how warm surfaces look) in several infrared channels.

How it's made. Produced from the VIIRS sensor on the NOAA-20 satellite, processed swath by swath using a fire-detection approach modeled on the long-running MODIS fire products.

How & where you'd use it. Used to locate and gauge the intensity of wildfires and volcanoes, and as an input to higher-level fire products; pinning detections to exact map locations requires a companion geolocation product.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE THERMAL PROPERTIES › LAND SURFACE TEMPERATUREBIOSPHERE › ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS › FIRE ECOLOGY › FIRE OCCURRENCELAND SURFACE › SURFACE THERMAL PROPERTIES › LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE › THERMAL ANOMALIES

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2018-01-01 → ongoing
  • Measured byNOAA-20 (VIIRS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Thermal Anomalies (VJ114) Version 2 product is produced in 6-minute temporal satellite increments (swaths) at 750 meter resolution from the VIIRS sensor located on the NOAA-20 satellite. This product is designed after the Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Thermal Anomalies and Fire data products to promote the continuity of the Earth Observation System (EOS) mission. This data product can enable users to understand the location and intensity of fire events as well as identifying thermal anomalies. The VJ114 product includes 31 science dataset variables to analyze key factors in fire detection, including atmospheric conditions (e.g., atmospheric reflectance, solar zenith angle, brightness temperature) and fuel type for the event. The fire mask variable in the VJ114 product is the primary variable and can be used to identify fires and other thermal anomalies such as volcanoes. In addition to the fire mask, brightness temperature is provided for VIIRS channels M5, M7, M11, M13, M15, and M16. Each swath of data is approximately 3,060 kilometers along track (long) and 3,060 kilometers across track (wide). The VJ114 product is also used to generate higher-level fire data products. Use of the [VJ103MODLL](https://doi.org/10.5067/viirs/vj103modll.021) data product is required to apply accurate geolocation information to the VJ114 Science Datasets (SDS). Known Issues * For complete information about known issues please refer to the [MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website](https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/knownissue?sensor=VIIRS) and in Section 5.0 “Frequently Asked Questions” of the User Guide.

Get the data

vj114_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VJ114",
    version="002",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from LPCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.