Active fires in the European Forest Fire Information System (version 2-3-1)

This dataset series refers to the information on active fire detection provided by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). ▷_How to cite: see below_◁

Active fires are located on the basis of the so-called thermal anomalies produced by them. The algorithms compare the temperature of a potential fire with the temperature of the land cover around it; if the difference in temperature is above a given threshold, the potential fire is confirmed as an active fire or "hot spot". The mapping of active fires is performed to provide a synoptic view of current fires in Europe and as a means to help the subsequent mapping of burnt fire perimeters. Information on active fires is normally updated 6 times daily and made available in EFFIS within 2-3 hours of the acquisition of the MODIS/VIIRS images. When interpreting the hotspots displayed in the map, the following must be considered. 1. Hotspot location on the map is only accurate within the spatial accuracy of the sensor. 2. Some fires may be small or obscured by smoke or cloud and remain undetected. 3. The satellites also detect other heat sources (not all hotspots are fires). 4. To minimize false alarms and filter out active fires not qualified as wildfires (e.g. agricultural burnings), the system only displays a filtered subset of the hotspots detected by FIRMS. To this end a knowledge based algorithm is applied that takes into account the extent of surrounding land cover categories, the distance to urban areas and artificial surfaces, the confidence level of the hotspot.

How to cite - When using these data, please cite the relevant data sources. A suggested citation is included in the following:       

• San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., Houston Durrant, T., Boca, R., Libertà, G., Branco, A., de Rigo, D., Ferrari, D., Maianti, P., Artés Vivancos, T., Schulte, E., Loffler, P., Benchikha, A., Abbas, M., Humer, F., Konstantinov, V., Pešut, I., Petkoviček, S., Papageorgiou, K., Toumasis, I., Kütt, V., Kõiv, K., Ruuska, R., Anastasov, T., Timovska, M., Michaut, P., Joannelle, P., Lachmann, M., Pavlidou, K., Debreceni, P., Nagy, D., Nugent, C., Di Fonzo, M., Leisavnieks, E., Jaunķiķis, Z., Mitri, G., Repšienė, S., Assali, F., Mharzi Alaoui, H., Botnen, D., Piwnicki, J., Szczygieł, R., Janeira, M., Borges, A., Sbirnea, R., Mara, S., Eritsov, A., Longauerová, V., Jakša, J., Enriquez, E., Lopez, A., Sandahl, L., Reinhard, M., Conedera, M., Pezzatti, B., Dursun, K. T., Baltaci, U., Moffat, A., 2017. Forest fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2016. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. ISBN:978-92-79-71292-0, https://doi.org/10.2760/17690       

• San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., Schulte, E., Schmuck, G., Camia, A., 2013. The European Forest Fire Information System in the context of environmental policies of the European Union. Forest Policy and Economics 29, 19-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2011.08.012      

• San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., Schulte, E., Schmuck, G., Camia, A., Strobl, P., Libertà, G., Giovando, C., Boca, R., Sedano, F., Kempeneers, P., McInerney, D., Withmore, C., de Oliveira, S. S., Rodrigues, M., Houston Durrant, T., Corti, P., Oehler, F., Vilar, L., Amatulli, G., 2012. Comprehensive monitoring of wildfires in Europe: the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). In: Tiefenbacher, J. (Ed.), Approaches to Managing Disaster - Assessing Hazards, Emergencies and Disaster Impacts. InTech, Ch. 5. http://doi.org/10.5772/28441