Visualize active lights in France in real time

France is going through a summer already marked by fires. Nevertheless, especially in Aude and the Bouches-du-Rhône. However, Three years after the megafeux who won over 30. However, 000 hectares of forest in Gironde in 2022, the lights are red in several regions of France. Nevertheless, Vigilance is particularly strong in the south of France. Furthermore, To follow the evolution of the day -to -day situation. Moreover, Franceinfo actualizes in real time a map of burnt fires and areas, fueled by the surveillance data produced by the NASA fire observation program (Firms), as well as by the European Forest Information System (Effis).

The accumulation of the number of hectares burned since the start of meteorological summer (June 1) also makes it. Meanwhile, possible to compare the extent of the disaster areas with visualize active lights france real the damage from previous years. At the end of July. the situation was close to the average for the same period between 2016 and 2024, and far below the 30,000 hectares which had already gone up in smoke between June and July 2022.

The data displayed on this page were generated from visualize active lights france real signals captured by a network of satellites in orbit around the earth. The active lights in recent 24 hours. recent days have been updated several times a day, depending on the passage of the satellites above France. Some territories currently plagued by flames may not appear on the map. These absences can notably be explained by the hours of passage of satellites. by the presence of clouds which obstruct their visibility.

Satellites can also detect fires that are not. It is then “false positive”. generated by the reflection of the sun’s rays on water bodies or on farms of photovoltaic panels, or by the heat emitted by certain industrial sites. Filters are applied by franceinfo to hide these signals, but some may still persist.

The burned areas are the result of estimates, under human supervision, supposed to get closer to reality. But these delimitations may not correspond exactly to the visualize active lights france real areas actually burned on the ground. “Depending on the case. these areas can be larger or smaller, depending on the characteristics of the fire, the vegetation and the satellite observation angle which can cause a distortion of the image”specifies to Franceinfo Alfredo Branco, project manager within the Effis program. In addition. it may be necessary to wait several days to see certain burned areas appear, especially in the case of a cloudy sky preventing the image of satellites.

With global warming caused by human activities, fires are led to intensify in France. The areas already the most affected, in the south-east of France, are the most exposed. But the risk should also extend further north. The fire season must also widen over time, starting earlier and earlier and ending later and later. In a France where annual temperatures should increase on average by 4 ° C in 2100. the lights visualize active lights france real “should have increased by 70% in 2050 compared to the two decades that we have just lived and could more than double at the end of the century”says in The world The ecologist François Pimont.

Writing: Valentin Stoquer and Mathieu Lehot-Couette

Development : Valentin Pigeau, Valentin Stoquer and Mathieu Lehot-Couette

Illustration : Héloïse Krob

Rereading: Antoine Aubert

Editorial supervision: Simon Gourmellet