Faced with the devastating fires affecting the Northern Hemisphere, the European Space Agency has taken the decision to reopen its World Atlas of Forest Fires using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite.
From the United States to Japan, via Europe and China, the heat wave spares no continent and ignores the borders erected by man.
If France has been rather preserved in recent weeks, the dryness of the soil remains high and raises significant concerns around the Mediterranean, because it increases the risk of fire.
A worrying situation in several countries
Devastating fires are also spreading in Canada, Greece, Spain, and even Algeria, destroying entire ecosystems in their path. According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), fires have already burned 241,736 hectares of land in the European Union, a significant increase from last year when 185,125 hectares were affected to August 5, 2022.
The global situation is so alarming that the European Space Agency has taken the decision to update and reopen its World Fire Atlas using data collected by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite. This measure aims to better monitor and understand the extent of the crisis.
Sentinel-3 has several analytical instruments, including the “Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) “, which generally measures the temperatures of the oceans and continental surfaces from orbit. But it also makes it possible to detect forest fires thanks to its infrared channels.
Keeping an eye on fires from space
The data collected in recent years reveal in any case the large number of fires that affect the countries of southern Europe. Portugal was hit hard in 2016 and 2017 with more than 200 fires detected. In 2021, it was Italy’s turn to face major fires, followed by Spain in 2022. This year, Greece is also facing devastating fires. But that’s nothing compared to Canada, which has seen 11,598 fires in the first 7 months of the year, with 10 million hectares of land burned!
Olivier Arino, of the ESA, considers that this tool can help researchers and governments to better understand these fires in order to anticipate and prevent them: “The relaunch of the World Fire Atlas offers authorities, researchers and organizations a valuable opportunity to improve their understanding of the fires that occur around the world. By using this comprehensive resource, they can design more effective strategies for preventing and managing fires globally.»
Source : ESA
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