Fire Hotspot Data Download

Download active fire hotspot data from NASA FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System).

Overview

NASA FIRMS distributes active fire data from MODIS and VIIRS instruments in near-real-time. This data is essential for fire monitoring, air quality studies, and land management.

Instruments

Instrument	Product	Satellite	Resolution
MODIS	MCD14DL	Terra+Aqua	1km
VIIRS (NRT)	VNP14IMGTDL_NRT	Suomi-NPP	375m
VIIRS (Standard)	VNP14IMGT	Suomi-NPP	375m
VIIRS (NOAA-20)	VJ114IMGML	NOAA-20 (JPSS-1)	375m

Features

• MODIS and VIIRS: both instruments supported
• Near-real-time and standard products: NRT for monitoring, standard for research
• Date range and bbox filtering: precise spatial-temporal queries
• CSV and GeoJSON output: tabular and geospatial formats
• API key management: secure key storage in config file
• Progress tracking: download progress with tqdm

Credentials

This skill needs a NASA FIRMS MAP_KEY (free, issued per email).

Resolution order:

1. FIRMS_MAP_KEY env var
2. ~/.netrc entry for machine firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov (login = key)
3. Default (geoskill-core credentials.py): empty — user must register

Get a free key: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/map_key/

API Key

A free API key is required. Get one at: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/map_key/

# Set your API key
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py set-key YOUR_API_KEY

# Or set via environment variable
export FIRMS_API_KEY="your_api_key"

Credentials

This skill needs a NASA FIRMS MAP_KEY (free, issued per email).

Resolution order:

1. FIRMS_MAP_KEY env var
2. ~/.netrc entry for machine firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov (login = key)
3. Default (geoskill-core credentials.py): empty — user must register

Get a free key: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/map_key/

Usage

# Download fire hotspots for China (last 7 days)
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download \
  --instrument VIIRS --product NRT \
  --bbox 73 18 135 54 \
  --start 2024-01-01 --end 2024-01-07 \
  --output china_fires.csv

# Download MODIS fires as GeoJSON
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download \
  --instrument MODIS --product STANDARD \
  --bbox 116.0 39.5 116.8 40.2 \
  --start 2024-03-01 --end 2024-03-31 \
  --output beijing_fires.geojson --format geojson

# Download both instruments
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download \
  --instrument BOTH --product NRT \
  --bbox -125 25 -66 50 \
  --start 2024-06-01 --end 2024-06-07 \
  --output us_fires.csv

# List available instruments
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py list-instruments

Parameters

• --instrument: MODIS, VIIRS, or BOTH
• --product: NRT (near-real-time) or STANDARD
• --bbox: Bounding box as west south east north
• --start/--end: Date range (YYYY-MM-DD, max 7 days for NRT)
• --output: Output file path
• --format: csv or geojson
• --confidence: Minimum confidence threshold (0-100)

Data Fields

Field	Description
latitude	Latitude of fire pixel
longitude	Longitude of fire pixel
brightness	Brightness temperature (K)
scan	Scan pixel size
track	Track pixel size
acq_date	Acquisition date
acq_time	Acquisition time (HHMM)
satellite	Satellite name
confidence	Detection confidence (0-100)
version	Product version
bright_t31	Channel 31 brightness (K)
frp	Fire Radiative Power (MW)
daynight	Day or Night

Installation

# Install dependencies
pip install requests>=2.28.0 tqdm

# Or install from requirements.txt
pip install -r scripts/requirements.txt

Data Source

• API: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/
• Documentation: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/
• License: Public Domain (NASA open data)
• Rate Limit: No strict limit; recommended max 10 requests/minute
• CRS: WGS84 (EPSG:4326)

Citation Format

@article{davies2009firms,
  title={Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRS): archiving and distributing MODIS active fire data},
  author={Davies, D.K. and others},
  journal={IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing},
  year={2009},
  doi={10.1109/TGRS.2009.2014067}
}

NRT vs Standard Quality

Product	Latency	Accuracy	Use Case
NRT (Near-Real-Time)	~3 hours	Lower (automated QA)	Active fire monitoring, rapid response
Standard	~2 weeks	Higher (manual QA)	Research, long-term analysis

Confidence Threshold

The confidence field ranges from 0–100%:

• >75%: High confidence — reliable fire detection
• 50–75%: Medium confidence — possible fire, verify with other sources
• <50%: Low confidence — likely false positive

VIIRS Satellites

Satellite	Instrument ID	Product
Suomi-NPP	VNP14IMGTDL_NRT / VNP14IMGT	375m resolution
NOAA-20 (JPSS-1)	VJ114IMGML	375m resolution

Both provide similar spatial resolution; NOAA-20 offers improved nighttime detection.

Long-Period Download Guidance

The API supports max 7 days per NRT request. For longer periods:

# Loop over weeks
for week in {0..3}; do
  start=$(date -d "2024-01-01 +${week} weeks" +%Y-%m-%d)
  end=$(date -d "2024-01-01 +${week} weeks + 6 days" +%Y-%m-%d)
  python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download \
    --instrument VIIRS --product NRT \
    --bbox 73 18 135 54 \
    --start $start --end $end \
    --output "fires_week${week}.csv"
done

Global Download

For global-scale analysis, split into regional tiles and download separately to avoid timeout:

• Americas, Europe-Africa, Asia-Pacific (4–6 regions recommended)
• Merge results after download.

API Key Storage

• Keys set via set-key are stored in the local config file.
• Environment variable FIRMS_API_KEY overrides stored key.
• Config location: same directory as the script.

Visualization

• Point maps: Load GeoJSON in QGIS, color by confidence (red = high, yellow = medium).
• Time series: Aggregate daily fire counts, plot as bar chart.
• Heatmaps: Use QGIS Heatmap renderer or datashader in Python.

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Solution
ConnectionError	Network issue or API down	Check internet connection, retry in 1 minute
HTTP 429	Rate limit exceeded	Wait 60 seconds before retrying
HTTP 404	Invalid parameters or date range	Check parameter names and date format
ValueError: bbox	Invalid bounding box	Ensure format is west,south,east,north
Empty output	No data for query region/time	Try different date range or check coordinates
ModuleNotFoundError	Missing dependency	Run pip install requests tqdm
403 Forbidden	Invalid API key	Re-run set-key with valid key

---

Advanced Usage

Automated Weekly Download

# Download last 7 days of fire data for China
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download   --bbox 73 18 135 54 --instrument BOTH   --start $(date -d '7 days ago' +%Y-%m-%d)   --end $(date +%Y-%m-%d)   --output fires_weekly.csv

CI/CD Integration (GitHub Actions)

# .github/workflows/update-fires.yml
name: Fire Hotspot Monitor
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 8 * * *'  # Daily at 08:00 UTC
jobs:
  download:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'
      - run: pip install requests
      - env:
          FIRMS_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.FIRMS_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download \
            --bbox 73 18 135 54 --instrument BOTH \
            --start $(date -d '3 days ago' +%Y-%m-%d) \
            --end $(date +%Y-%m-%d) \
            --output data/fires_latest.csv

PostgreSQL/PostGIS Import

python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download   --bbox 73 18 135 54 --start 2024-01-01 --end 2024-01-31   --output fires.csv

psql -d gis_db -c "\COPY fire_hotspots(lat, lon, confidence, acq_date, instrument) FROM 'fires.csv' CSV HEADER"

Performance Tips

• NRT API accepts max 7-day windows; split longer ranges into weekly chunks
• Use --instrument VIIRS for higher resolution (375m vs 1km)
• Add sleep 1 between weekly requests for multi-week batches

---

中文说明

从 NASA FIRMS（资源管理火灾信息系统）下载 MODIS 和 VIIRS 活跃火点数据。

传感器

传感器	产品	卫星	分辨率
MODIS	MCD14DL	Terra+Aqua	1km
VIIRS (近实时)	VNP14IMGTDL_NRT	Suomi-NPP	375m
VIIRS (标准)	VNP14IMGT	Suomi-NPP	375m
VIIRS (NOAA-20)	VJ114IMGML	NOAA-20 (JPSS-1)	375m

核心功能

• MODIS 和 VIIRS：支持两种传感器
• 近实时和标准产品：近实时用于监测，标准产品用于科研
• 日期范围和区域过滤：精确的时空查询
• CSV 和 GeoJSON 输出：表格和地理空间格式
• API 密钥管理：安全存储在配置文件中
• 进度跟踪：使用 tqdm 显示下载进度

API 密钥

需要免费 API 密钥。获取地址：https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/map_key/

# 设置 API 密钥
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py set-key YOUR_API_KEY

# 或通过环境变量
set FIRMS_API_KEY=your_api_key

使用示例

# 下载中国区域火点（最近7天）
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download \
  --instrument VIIRS --product NRT \
  --bbox 73 18 135 54 \
  --start 2024-01-01 --end 2024-01-07 \
  --output china_fires.csv

# 下载 MODIS 火点为 GeoJSON
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download \
  --instrument MODIS --product STANDARD \
  --bbox 116.0 39.5 116.8 40.2 \
  --start 2024-03-01 --end 2024-03-31 \
  --output beijing_fires.geojson --format geojson

# 下载两种传感器数据
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py download \
  --instrument BOTH --product NRT \
  --bbox -125 25 -66 50 \
  --start 2024-06-01 --end 2024-06-07 \
  --output us_fires.csv

# 列出可用传感器
python scripts\fire_hotspot_download.py list-instruments

数据字段

字段	描述
latitude	火点纬度
longitude	火点经度
brightness	亮温 (K)
scan	扫描像元大小
track	轨道像元大小
acq_date	获取日期
acq_time	获取时间 (HHMM)
satellite	卫星名称
confidence	检测置信度 (0-100)
version	产品版本
bright_t31	31通道亮温 (K)
frp	火辐射功率 (MW)
daynight	白天或夜间

数据来源

• API: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/
• 文档: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/
• 许可证: 公共领域（NASA 开放数据）
• 引用: Davies, D.K., et al., 2009. Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRS): archiving and distributing MODIS active fire data. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.