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Dianópolis fire, 28 August 2019 Dianópolis, Novo Jardim

Out · last detection 8 Sept 2019, 16:12 UTC

The fire started on 28 August 2019 in Dianópolis, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 12 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,577 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 685th largest in Tocantins since 2016 (of 1242 with a page). Number 525 in Brazil in 2019, of 974.

The power measured by the satellite is low (22.8 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.

Burnt area
4,577ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
12days
28 Aug 2019 – 8 Sept 2019
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
28 Aug
2019
Heat detections
164
in a single hotspot: 23 MW
Danger at start
50
Extreme · FWI index
Energy released
782MW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

8 Sept 2019
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 28 Aug8 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

282930311235678

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

38°high
50km/h · peak gust
15%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

66% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 44 ha in 2016, 3,052 ha in 2017.

What happened to each town

  1. Dianópolis 2,866 inhabitants where it started
    4,570 ha reached on 27 Aug
    1.4 %
  2. Novo Jardim 17,739 inhabitants
    36 ha
    0.0 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

The weather day by day

ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
27 Aug 32.9 °C 29 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
28 Aug 33.4 °C 29 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
29 Aug 33.9 °C 29 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
30 Aug 34.1 °C 27 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
31 Aug 35.1 °C 26 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
1 Sept 35.9 °C 20 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
2 Sept 37.1 °C 17 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
3 Sept 37.1 °C 18 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
4 Sept 36.5 °C 22 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
5 Sept 36.9 °C 21 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
6 Sept 35.4 °C 23 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
7 Sept 35.0 °C 25 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
8 Sept 35.0 °C 25 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
9 Sept after 35.2 °C 26 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
10 Sept after 36.1 °C 24 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
11 Sept after 35.9 °C 23 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
12 Sept after 36.5 °C 18 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
13 Sept after 37.6 °C 19 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
14 Sept after 38.0 °C 15 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
15 Sept after 35.8 °C 19 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
16 Sept after 36.1 °C 26 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
17 Sept after 36.2 °C 23 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
18 Sept after 37.6 °C 19 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
19 Sept after 37.3 °C 22 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
20 Sept after 37.7 °C 24 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
21 Sept after 38.1 °C 21 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
22 Sept after 36.7 °C 25 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
23 Sept after 36.9 °C 21 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
24 Sept after 36.7 °C 24 % 58 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
25 Sept after 35.4 °C 27 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 21 Aug 2019
After · 15 Sept 2019

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

Detections table · 164Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Brazil ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Dianópolis fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 28 August 2019 and 8 September 2019: 12 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 4,577 hectares (45.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Dianópolis (4,570 ha, 1.4 %); Novo Jardim (36 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 38.0 °C, humidity dropped to 15 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 59, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Brazil (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

Where to verify it

A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.

Emergency number: 193

Satellite cross-check

Does something look wrong on this page?

This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.

Report an error
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 193.

Where this data comes from

The perimeter comes from the Copernicus Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), which rebuilds it from MODIS and VIIRS heat detections and publishes it under CC BY 4.0. It is not measured on imagery as in Europe, so it is an estimate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY 3.0 IGO)). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ from each country’s official figure.