VNP14IMG_NRT: Near-Real-Time Global Fire Detection at 375m

VIIRS/JPSS2 satellite data provides 6-minute, 375-meter resolution detection of active fires and thermal anomalies globally. Its algorithm uses five 375m and complementary 750m spectral channels to separate fires from land, water, and cloud pixels, offering continuity from the MODIS 1km fire product. This Near Real-Time (NRT) Level 2 swath product is distributed via NASA's LANCE system in NetCDF4 format.

Use Cases

• Real-time wildfire monitoring and alerting based on the 6-minute NRT swath data.
• Analysis of fire dynamics and spread using sub-pixel thermal anomaly detection.
• Continuity studies linking MODIS and VIIRS fire records for long-term trend analysis.
• Land surface property studies leveraging multi-spectral channel data for pixel classification.

Strengths

• Provides high spatial resolution (375 meters) for fire detection.
• Offers near-real-time availability through NASA's LANCE system.
• Algorithm is peer-reviewed and builds on established MODIS heritage.

Limitations

• Critical metadata (row count, file size, specific columns) is unavailable across all sources.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.
• The 'last updated' date of 2026-04 09 appears to be a future timestamp, indicating potential metadata errors.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE), based on VIIRS/JPSS2 satellite sensor data.

Collection Method

Processed using a multi-spectral contextual algorithm on Level 1 Science Data Record (SDR) swath input.

Time Range

Near-real-time, continuous 6-minute swaths.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:02:51.962537 (Note: This is a future date, suggesting a metadata error.)

Geography

Global