Skip to content
worldfires
SS · South Sudan · →

Ulang fire, December 2016 Ulang, Luakpiny/Nasir, Akobo

Out · last detection 9 Feb 2017, 11:56 UTC

The fire started on 31 December 2016 in Ulang, South Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 40 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 129,779 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

It is the 2th largest in Upper Nile since 2016 (of 284 with a page). Number 6 in South Sudan in 2016, of 244.

Burnt area
129,779ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
40days
31 Dec 2016 – 8 Feb 2017
Municipalities hit
3
counties
Started on
31 Dec
2016
Heat detections
5,149
in a single hotspot: 380 MW
Danger at start
57
Extreme · FWI index
Energy released
57.8GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

9 Feb 2017
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 31 Dec8 Feb

How it evolved, day by day

3112345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789

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

The weather it burned in

41°high
51km/h · peak gust
8%lowest humidity

It had gone 37 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

14% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 19,993 ha in 2016. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 17,697 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

  1. Ulang where it started
    106,759 ha reached on 31 Dec
    22 %
  2. Luakpiny/Nasir
    8,398 ha reached on 10 Jan
    1.6 %
  3. Akobo
    2,337 ha reached on 31 Dec
    0.3 %

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)
31 Dec 39.1 °C 15 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
1 Jan 38.3 °C 15 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
2 Jan 38.8 °C 14 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
3 Jan 38.8 °C 15 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
4 Jan 38.2 °C 16 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
5 Jan 37.8 °C 17 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
6 Jan 38.0 °C 14 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
7 Jan 39.1 °C 10 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
8 Jan 39.5 °C 8 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
9 Jan 39.1 °C 11 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
10 Jan 38.5 °C 12 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
11 Jan 38.5 °C 14 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
12 Jan 38.8 °C 10 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
13 Jan 39.2 °C 10 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
14 Jan 39.7 °C 9 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
15 Jan 40.9 °C 8 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
16 Jan 39.9 °C 10 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
17 Jan 39.2 °C 12 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
18 Jan 39.7 °C 8 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
19 Jan 40.1 °C 9 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
20 Jan 39.3 °C 10 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
21 Jan 40.4 °C 9 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
22 Jan 40.2 °C 14 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
23 Jan 40.3 °C 15 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
24 Jan 40.3 °C 11 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
25 Jan 40.2 °C 9 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
26 Jan 39.3 °C 16 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
27 Jan 40.4 °C 13 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
28 Jan 40.4 °C 13 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 70
29 Jan 39.4 °C 16 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
30 Jan 39.0 °C 16 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
31 Jan 40.1 °C 10 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
1 Feb 38.9 °C 10 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
2 Feb 37.6 °C 11 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
3 Feb 38.1 °C 15 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
4 Feb 38.9 °C 14 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
5 Feb 39.2 °C 12 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
6 Feb 39.7 °C 13 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
7 Feb 39.7 °C 15 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
8 Feb 40.5 °C 20 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
9 Feb after 40.1 °C 15 % 27 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 55
10 Feb after 41.8 °C 14 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
11 Feb after 40.7 °C 15 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
12 Feb after 40.6 °C 14 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
13 Feb after 40.1 °C 12 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
14 Feb after 33.7 °C 10 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
15 Feb after 38.8 °C 15 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
16 Feb after 39.4 °C 15 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
17 Feb after 36.8 °C 13 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
18 Feb after 35.1 °C 12 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 24 Dec 2016
After · 15 Feb 2017

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 · 5,149Every 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 South Sudan ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Ulang fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 31 December 2016 and 8 February 2017: 40 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 129,779 hectares (1,297.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Ulang (106,759 ha, 22 %); Luakpiny/Nasir (8,398 ha, 1.6 %); Akobo (2,337 ha, 0.3 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 40.9 °C, humidity dropped to 8 % and gusts hit 51 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 74, class Very extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of South Sudan (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.

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.

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.