The fire intensity per hexagonal cell represents the sum of the thermal brightness measured by the NOAA VIIRS sensors during the time increment (the increments are 12 hours in the example). All cells where fires have been detected are added to the burn layer (burnt areas), in gray.

​

The presence of clouds, per hexagonal cell, corresponds to the probability that each cell was cloudy. Higher values correspond to situations where the energy coming from the fires could not be observed by satellite. Thus, the layer representing the clouds allows us to “know that we do not know”. The presence of clouds is indicated by a range of increasingly opaque whites.

​

The amount of rain received (in mm) during each time increment (12 hours in the example) is represented by a range of increasingly saturated blues.

​

The date and time (start and end of each time increment) are indicated at the top of the animation. Depending on the case, the time is given according to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), or local standard time (LST), which does not take into account the advancement of time in summer if applicable.

 

The different layers are represented in the following order, from highest to lowest:

1 - Rain

2 - Intensity of fires

3 - Burn scar

4 - Clouds

5 - Other layers

The order of the layers was chosen to promote understanding of the weather context and to follow the evolution of each fire. For example, by placing the burn scars above the clouds (which a priori is not logical), we can continue to visualize the footprint of the burned areas even on cloudy days.