South America MODIS Active Fire Detections from NASA FIRMS

Near-real-time active fire and thermal anomaly detections covering South America from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). Data is derived from the MODIS sensor family on Terra (since 2000) and Aqua (since 2002) satellites. Files are continuously updated, typically within 3 hours of satellite acquisition.

Use Cases

• Monitor wildfire outbreaks based on near-real-time thermal anomaly data.
• Analyze fire frequency and distribution across South America based on satellite-derived detections.
• Model fire risk and environmental impact based on historical fire detection data spanning over two decades.
• Support resource management and emergency response based on continuously updated fire location information.

Strengths

• Data is updated continuously, typically within 3 hours of satellite acquisition.
• Provides over two decades of historical coverage from MODIS sensors on Terra (since 2000) and Aqua (since 2002).
• Offers data in multiple geospatial formats (SHP, KML, CSV) for different analysis workflows.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS)

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS sensor data on Terra and Aqua satellites.

Time Range

Terra data since 2000, Aqua data since 2002.

Freshness

Continuously updated, last platform metadata update was 2026-05-13.

Geography

South America