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Science and Innovations

Clearer Satellite Imagery Improves Wildfire Mapping

USDA Forest Service Active Fire Mapping Program

The U.S. Forest Service now has a better view of wildfires from space, thanks to a new agreement with NASA.

The agreement gives wildland fire managers access to data from a satellite imaging system called VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite). In the daytime, VIIRS can theoretically detect a flaming fire just 50 square meters—about the size of a small house. At night, VIIRS can detect a fire five times smaller. That’s an improvement on current technology, called MODIS, which routinely detects wildfires about 1,000 square meters in size.

The Forest Service has used satellites to track wildfires since the 1990s. The information helps the agency make decisions about where to allocate firefighting resources at the regional and national level.

Wildfires in the U.S. burn an average of 7 million acres a year. A combination of factors has increased the risk of large, catastrophic fires in Arizona, including drought and unnaturally dense forests.

Melissa joined KNAU's team in 2015 to report on science, health, and the environment. Her work has appeared nationally on NPR and been featured on Science Friday. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she fell in love with the ecology and geology of the Sonoran desert.
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