Alaska MODIS Active Fire Detections from NASA FIRMS

Near-real-time active fire and thermal anomaly detections covering Alaska from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). Data is derived from the MODIS sensor family on Terra and Aqua satellites, with continuous updates typically within 3 hours of satellite acquisition. Files are available in SHP, KML, and CSV formats for time windows of the last 24 hours, 48 hours, and 7 days.

Use Cases

• Monitor wildfire outbreaks in Alaska based on near-real-time thermal anomaly data.
• Analyze fire frequency and location trends over time based on satellite-derived detections.
• Model fire spread and risk assessment based on geospatial fire detection points.
• Integrate fire detection data into resource management and emergency response systems.

Strengths

• Data is updated continuously, typically within 3 hours of satellite acquisition.
• Provides near-real-time detections for three distinct time windows: last 24h, 48h, and 7d.
• Data originates from the authoritative NASA FIRMS platform.
• Available in multiple geospatial formats (SHP, KML, CSV) for flexibility.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified as the last metadata update was 2026-05-13.

Provenance

Source

NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS)

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS sensor data on Terra (since 2000) and Aqua (since 2002) satellites.

Time Range

Data available for last 24h, 48h, and 7d windows.

Freshness

Continuously updated, typically within 3 hours of satellite overpass.

Geography

Alaska