Alaska VIIRS Active Fire Detections: Near-Real-Time Satellite Data

Near-real-time active fire and thermal anomaly detections covering Alaska, derived from NASA's VIIRS sensor family. The data is continuously updated, typically within 3 hours of satellite acquisition, and is available in 24-hour, 48-hour, and 7-day time windows. It is provided by NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS).

Use Cases

• Monitor active wildfire perimeters based on near-real-time thermal anomaly detections.
• Analyze fire frequency and intensity trends in Alaska based on VIIRS sensor data.
• Model wildfire risk and spread based on continuously updated satellite overpass data.
• Integrate fire detection data into emergency response dashboards based on available KML and SHP formats.

Strengths

• Data is updated typically within 3 hours of satellite acquisition.
• Covers Alaska with data from multiple VIIRS satellites (Suomi-NPP since 2011, NOAA-20 since 2017, NOAA-21 since 2022).
• Available in multiple geospatial formats (SHP, KML, CSV) for different analysis needs.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS)

Collection Method

Derived from VIIRS sensor data on Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 satellites.

Time Range

Data spans from 2011 (Suomi-NPP) to present, with near-real-time updates.

Freshness

Continuously updated; last metadata update was 2026-05-13.

Geography

Alaska