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National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
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The Satellite Services Division of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) provides real time access to satellite data and products for the public and government. (More information about SSD)

Hazard Mapping System

Analyzed Fires From Satellite

Getting Started...

A Note About the HMS Data Set

The SSD Fire Program Hazard Mapping System displays five datasets on this Georgraphic Information System (GIS) web site.

·  Hazard Mapping System (HMS) - Analyst integrated fire and smoke product

·  Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning (WF_ABBA) - Automated fire detects from GOES weather satellite

·  Fire Identification Mapping and Monitoring Algorithm (FIMMA) - Automated fire detects from the AVHRR instrument

·  Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) - Fire detects from NASA'a MODIS instrument

·  Operational Linescan System (OLS) - Fires identified by a satellite analyst from night time lights data from the DMSP/OLS instrument.

When the site is initially opened, the HMS dataset or Analyzed Fires and Smoke from Satellites is the only data displayed. Fires are in red, visible smoke is gray. We wish to promote the HMS data above the others because it has been carefully prepared by trained analysts and is superior in quality to the other data sets.

Date and Time

For the current date and time of the near real-time data, please select Link to This Map was Last Updated

Metadata

Metadata information is available by selecting the Meta button to the right of each layer name in the layer/legend list. (Metadata will be available for all layers soon.)

Tool Bar Functions

Zoom In Zoom Out Zoom to Full Extent Zoom to Active Layer Zoom to Last Extent Pan Pan to North Pan to South Pan to West Pan to East Identify Measure Print

Select the "zoom in" tool and either pick a point on the map to zoom to or drag the mouse to form a box for a more precise area to zoom into.

Select the "zoom out" tool for a view further from the selected position by either picking a point on the map or drag the mouse to form a box.

Select the "full extent" tool to zoom out to the full extent of the map.

Select the "layer extent" tool to zoom to the full extent of the current visible layer.

Select the "last extent" tool to zoom to the previous extent.

Select the "pan" tool to pan across the map by clicking and dragging the mouse on the map to move to a new area.

Select the "pan up" tool to move the view on the map North.

Select the "pan down" tool to move the view on the map South.

Select the "pan left" tool to move the view on the map to the left.

Select the "pan right"' tool to move the view on the map to the right.

Select the "identify" tool to display tabular information about the current active layer. See Active Layer information below.

Select the "measure" tool to measure an approximate distance on the map.

Select the "print" tool to print the current map view.

A Note About Zooming In

The SSD Fire Program Hazard Mapping System posesses functionality that enables the user to Zoom In to an area or portion of the map. This functionality can become confusing to the user if they Zoom In too much. The orientation and precise location of the data becomes less accurate. Caution must be exercised when interpreting the data at this extent. If "lost" one can click on Full View in the tool bar.

Layer and Legend

The Layer/Legend button can be selected to toggle between the layer list and the legend list. The layer list displays all the layers available in the map view. The legend list displays the layer name and symbol for the layers displayed in the current map.

A Note About the Active Layers Column in the Layer List

The Layers List contains an "Active" column with radial buttons for each data set. This is part of the default interface and provides the user the ability to perform queries on the individual data sets. The radial buttons under "Active" used in conjunction with the Identify tool will display the time and for some data, the latitude and longitude of the current active data layer.

A Brief Tutorial

Using the SSD Fire Program Hazard Mapping System GIS Web site may seem a little difficult or uncomfortable to use at first. But after spending a few minutes working with the Navigation Tools and Layers/Legend controls, even the beginner to GIS will find the interface friendly and quite intuitive.

Be sure to read the Help page before continuing.

Follow these steps to learn some of the functionality of the SSD Fire Program Hazard Mapping System GIS Web site. You may wish to print this page.

If you are not at the original display, place the cursor over the Full View and press down the left mouse button. The map will redisplay at its original extent.

Step 1. We will first look at the data sets. Place a check in all Layers Visible boxes that are currently unchecked and then press the Refresh Map button below. Points of different colors appear at various locations on the map. These are the various data sets. Press the Legend button in the Toolbar to see what colors are associated with the Layers. Press it a second time to return to the Layers panel.

Step 2. Press the Zoom In button by placing the mouse over the button and pressing the left mouse button. The Zoom In button is now the active tool. Now place the cursor over the center of Colorado and press the left mouse button. While holding down the left mouse button, move the cursor down and to the right to the center of Louisiana and then release the left mouse button. The view immediately changes to the zoomed in area defined by Oklahoma.

Step 3. Select the Panbutton by placing the cursor over the button and pressing the left mouse button. Then place the cursor over the map near the right side of the map frame and press the left mouse button. While holding the mouse button down, slide or drag the cursor to the left side of the screen and release the mouse button. The map redisplays and is shifted to the right or the east and Tennessee and Kentucky are now displayed in the map frame. Also, by now you should begin seeing some of the data up close. If not, try panning to the south using the same method as before, only this time place the cursor toward the bottom of the map frame and pressing the left mouse button, drag the cursor to the top of the map frame. Florida should be centered in the map frame now. If not, use the Zoom In, Zoom Out and Pan buttons until the state of Florida is centered in the map frame. By now you should have seen some of the data, especially the HMS data, which are the red points. If you've still not found any detected fires, try panning to the Southwest United States.

Step 4. Next we will use the Identify button. First you must make a layer active in the Active Layers column. Place cursor over the radial button for the layer you would like to make active and press the left mouse button. By default, the Analyzed Fires from satellites layer is the active layer and the data points are in red. Place the cursor over the Identify button and press the left mouse button. Now move the cursor over one of the data points and press the left mouse button. You may need to zoom in on a data point to activate the data information. A record for that particular data point will appear in the space below the map frame. This area is called the text frame. The user can turn off the current active layer by checking another layer to be active and pressing the Refresh Map button. For state and county information, make counties active and then use the identify button.

This brief tutorial is designed to get the user familiar with the functionality of the SSD Fire Program Hazard Mapping System GIS Web site. The rest of the buttons in the tool bar work on the same principles. The user selects a tool and then performs that operation on the map with that tool. Most GIS systems work on these same principles of graphical and tabular data and the ability to navigate around the map is essential to understanding and interpreting the data.