How cleanly fires are burning (VIIRS NOAA-20, 375 m)

In plain English

What it measures. Gauges how cleanly fires are burning by combining heat output with light from flames, including fire radiative power and a 'combustion efficiency' score.

How it's made. Produced in 6-minute swaths at 375 m detail from the VIIRS sensor on the NOAA-20 satellite, using a fire algorithm that taps nighttime light to spot smaller, cooler fires.

How & where you'd use it. Helps detect fires that other methods miss and assess how smoky or efficient a fire is, useful for air-quality and emissions work.

What's measured

BIOSPHERE › ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS › FIRE ECOLOGY › FIRE OCCURRENCELAND SURFACE › SURFACE THERMAL PROPERTIES

Coverage & cadence

Time span2018-01-05 → ongoing
Measured byNOAA-20 (VIIRS)
Processing levelLevel 2
Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
FormatsnetCDF-4
StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

Map vegetation, forests and biomass
Monitor ecosystem productivity and carbon
Support habitat and biodiversity studies

Official description

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) FIre Light Detection Algorithm-2 (FILDA-2) Modified Combustion Efficiency (MCE) Version 2 swath product (VJ147IMG) is produced in 6-minute orbit segments 375 meter (m) resolution from the VIIRS sensor aboard the NOAA-20 satellite. The VJ147IMG product takes advantage of the rich information that visible band observation conveys at night to assess fire combustion efficiency and enhance fire detection. It also utilizes improvements made in fire detection algorithms to detect smaller and cooler fires. The VJ147IMG product includes 83 layers containing fire detection and retrievals of Radiative Power (FRP), fire Visible Energy Fraction (VEF), and Modified Combustion Efficiency (MCE). Known Issues * Known issues can be found in Section 5 of the User Guide. * 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&as=5200).

Get the data

vj147img_access.py

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

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VJ147IMG",
    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.

Official links

The LDOPE Land Product Quality Assessment website provides known issues, maneuvers, and product quality of the land products. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Earthdata Search allows users to search, discover, visualize, refine, and access NASA Earth Observation data. GET DATA
The technical information in the User's Guide enables users to interpret and use the data products. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
The ATBD provides physical theory and mathematical procedures for the calculations used to produce the data products. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Validation at stage 3 has been achieved for the VIIRS Fire Light Detection Algorithm-2 product suite. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION