A satellite map for analyzing wildfires and environmental changes. Explore dated imagery and detected hotspots.
Observation map
About the station
The station helps you observe changes on Earth's surface through satellite imagery.
Search for a place or move the map, then choose a date and an observation layer. Zoom in to examine an area.
The fire icon shows detected hotspots in the visible map area. Select a point to see the available details.
Observation layers
This layer displays our planet in natural colors — as if you were viewing it from an airplane or an orbital station. Every pixel of this image is reflected sunlight, minimally corrected to convey the most accurate possible representation of what is happening on the surface.
You are seeing the living Earth: blue oceans, green forests, cloud formations, dust trails, smoke from wildfires, centers of volcanic activity, and signs of flooding. Here you can discern seasonal changes in vegetation, plankton blooms in the oceans, as well as the consequences of natural disasters and human impact.
You have launched a satellite map in false colors, based on a combination of spectral bands 3–6–7. This mode enhances the distinction between types of vegetation, soil, and surface disturbances. Forests, fields, clear-cuts, traces of fires and erosion become especially visible. This format is used by scientists and ecologists to analyze ecosystem health, monitor landscape degradation, and detect changes that are difficult to distinguish in natural colors.
This layer displays the Earth’s surface in false colors using spectral bands 7–2–1 (near-infrared, red, and blue ranges). This combination is specifically designed to highlight healthy vegetation, assess landscape disturbances, and monitor natural disasters. On the map, green indicates active vegetation zones (forests, fields), while dark areas represent burned, deforested, or degraded regions. Clouds and snow cover appear in bluish-white tones. Thanks to the near-infrared band’s sensitivity to moisture content in leaves, this mode allows detection of vegetation stress, fire scars, droughts, deforestation, and other ecological changes that are not visible in natural colors.
You have launched an infrared false-color satellite map based on data from the Aqua platform, using spectral bands 7–2–1. This combination (near-infrared, red, and blue ranges) is designed to highlight features of the Earth’s surface, particularly vegetation condition and natural cover disturbances. Healthy vegetation appears bright green, burned or deforested areas appear dark or brown, and snow and clouds show as light blue. Thanks to Aqua — launched to monitor water and climate dynamics — this layer is especially effective for assessing impacts on wetland ecosystems, tracking droughts, deforestation, fires, and landscape degradation in both coastal and inland areas.
This layer shows the Earth in natural colors based on data from the modern NOAA-20 satellite. It operates with the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument and displays the planet as it appears from orbit: cloud cover, forests, water, dust, smoke from fires, and other natural phenomena. Thanks to its high resolution and daily updates, this layer is especially useful for observing weather systems, atmospheric pollution, signs of destruction, and seasonal changes on the Earth’s surface.
This layer displays reflected sunlight in the green range, using spectral band M3 (~500–550 nm). The visualization closely resembles how the Earth appears to the human eye, especially under clear weather conditions. However, unlike a typical photograph, this layer uses only one spectral range — green — without red or blue.
This provides enhanced sharpness and contrast for analyzing vegetation, land surfaces, and cloud cover. Forests appear deep and dark, clouds — bright white, deserts — highly contrasted, and water bodies — deep and dark. This layer is used for quick assessment of surface brightness, cloud patterns, and boundaries between different types of land cover.
You have launched a false-color satellite map based on bands M3, I3, and M11 from the VIIRS instrument aboard the NOAA-20 satellite. This visualization combines green, mid-infrared, and thermal infrared spectra, enabling the detection of significant ecological changes that are not visible in natural light. The layer is particularly sensitive to signs of natural cover degradation: fires, deforestation, droughts, vegetation loss, and changes in soil structure. Damaged areas and zones with stressed vegetation appear as dark or high-contrast regions, while healthy green cover is displayed differently. This mode is widely used in scientific research and environmental monitoring to assess the scale of destruction, document the impacts of natural disasters, and support planning for restoration efforts.
You have launched a natural-color map of the Earth, created using data from the VIIRS instrument aboard the Suomi NPP satellite. This layer shows the planet’s surface as it would appear from orbit on a clear day: clouds, oceans, forests, deserts, dust, wildfire smoke, and other phenomena. The visualization is based on reflected sunlight and allows tracking of weather systems, natural changes, and signs of ecological disasters. The layer is updated daily and is used for visual monitoring of the atmosphere, pollution, seasonal landscape dynamics, and real-time assessment of natural areas.
Regions, settlements and roads without satellite imagery. Fire markers can be enabled separately.
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Capture the visible map area with the current layer and fire markers, if enabled?
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Questions and answers
What does the observation station show?
This is not a continuous live video feed. A satellite images an area during an overpass; the image is then processed and made available on the map. If you are investigating an event, compare an image from before it with a later one and check whether clouds obscure the area.
What do the fire points on the map mean?
High, nominal, and low are algorithm-assigned detection quality categories. They are not a percentage probability of fire or a measure of danger to people. FRP is measured in megawatts and describes the radiative power of the detected area at the time of observation. A single FRP value cannot tell you the area burned. Compare the points with imagery and reports from the ground.
How do I find a place and compare images?
Changing the date changes the satellite image. It does not select a historical set of heat points: the fire panel shows detections available at the time of your request within the visible map area. Do not treat an older image and current points as observations from the same day. Also account for clouds, lighting, and seasonal changes in vegetation.
Why switch satellite layers?
The displayed color does not necessarily match the actual color of the ground. The same place can look different in different layers. Check the layer name first, then compare the area in another layer and on nearby dates. A bright patch alone does not confirm a fire or logging.
Why is one image not enough to draw a conclusion?
Compare several dates and layers. Check whether a change appears again and remains in the same position. Satellite observation helps identify where to look more closely, but it cannot establish the cause of a change or who is responsible for it. That requires information from the ground and supporting records.
How can I prepare a regional update?
Do not confuse the date of the satellite image with the time of the heat detections; they update independently. Separate observations from assumptions. For example, “smoke is visible in the image” is more accurate than claiming a cause or burned area without checking. If people are in danger, contact emergency services promptly rather than waiting to publish an update.
How can I check a possible logging site or fire?
If the change persists, record the coordinates, dates, and layer name. Compare the images with heat detections, local reports, photographs from the ground, and available official information. The map can show why a site needs checking, but it cannot by itself prove that a fire, logging, or a violation occurred.
Why didn't the image load or why are there black stripes visible?
Black stripes on some MODIS images are areas not covered by the swaths of adjacent satellite passes. Try using the VIIRS layer or a different day. White areas might be clouds, snow, or missing data: compare neighboring dates and another layer before drawing conclusions about the territory's condition.
Created by ThePashkov