Near real-time wildfire progression monitoring

Showcasing the Porto Germeno wildfire progression using MODIS and VIIRS

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensors are pivotal instruments for tracking near-real-time wildfire progression. Operated on polar-orbiting satellites (such as Terra/Aqua for MODIS and Suomi-NPP/NOAA series for VIIRS), MODIS provides active fire thermal detections at a 1 km spatial resolution, while VIIRS offers an enhanced 375 m spatial resolution, allowing for superior perimeter mapping and the detection of smaller or lower-intensity fires. Active fire data is available globally in near-real time (NRT) through platforms like NASA’s FIRMS within 1 to 3 hours of overpass—or within seconds to minutes via direct-readout stations. However, key drawbacks include low temporal frequency (polar orbits yield only 2–4 passes per location daily, creating monitoring blind spots during fast-moving fire bursts), viewing obscurations caused by heavy cloud cover, dense smoke, or thick canopy, and pixel distortion near the edges of satellite scan swaths