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In recent weeks, devastating wildfires have ravaged several countries in Europe, including Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, resulting in casualties, mass displacements, and extensive infrastructure damage. Since January, approximately 260,000 hectares of land in the European Union, equivalent to the size of Luxembourg, has been consumed by flames. The fires continue to rage across various regions in southern Europe.

Recognizing the escalating danger posed by wildfires, the European Space Agency (ESA) has launched an enhanced version of its World Fire Atlas, leveraging satellite data to monitor these blazes. The atlas, initially introduced in 2019 and already utilized by European civil protection agencies and firefighters, offers a dashboard that allows users to compare fire frequency among countries and analyze fire progression over time.

The upgraded tool employs night-time data captured by the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer on board Copernicus Sentinel-3A, Europe’s primary Earth observation satellite. Acting as a celestial thermometer, the sensor measures thermal infrared radiation to assess the temperature of Earth’s land surfaces, enabling the detection of fires.

Over the past seven years, data from the World Fire Atlas reveals a significant number of fire incidents in Portugal, Italy, Greece, France, and Spain. Portugal experienced the highest number of fires during this period in August 2016 and October 2017.

While wildfires are a natural occurrence in many ecosystems, scientists caution that they are becoming increasingly frequent and widespread due to climate change, which brings hotter and drier conditions to many parts of Europe.

In July, Rhodes Island in Greece witnessed the destruction of approximately 50,000 hectares within a week, forcing nearly 20,000 individuals to evacuate. The Copernicus rapid mapping service, activated for this event, provided geospatial information to assist authorities and firefighters in combating the blaze.

By harnessing satellite data, the ESA believes that authorities, researchers, and organizations can develop more effective strategies for fire prevention and management. Olivier Arino, head of the ESA’s Earth Observation Projects Section, emphasizes the significance of space technology in addressing critical environmental challenges and commends the ongoing commitment of ESA, Copernicus, and the European Union in providing this valuable resource.

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