AURSEEAursee
Wildfires in Helmand
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-12 13:28 UTC
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Fire history, 2012–2025
Detected · VIIRS S-NPP 375 m · 0.01° cells (~1.1 km) · complete years 2012–2025 · built 2026-09-23
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 452 km² of Helmand at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 37 km², ranking 6th of 34 regions of Afghanistan.
Year by year
Detected area per year, km². Area of 0.01° cells with at least one detection in the year.
The busiest year was 2020, with 81 km² detected; the quietest was 2022, with 4.2 km². The 2021–2025 average is 55% lower than the 2012–2016 average.
Through the year
Share of all fire-days 2012–2025 by month. A fire-day is one cell with a detection on one day.
May, June and July together hold 40% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 6 June 2018, with detections in 6 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 452 km² with at least one detection, 2.1% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 393 | 87% |
| 2 years | 50 | 11% |
| 3 to 5 years | 9.5 | 2.1% |
| 6 to 10 years | 0.0 | 0.0% |
| 11 years or more | 0.0 | 0.0% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at 31.75, 64.25 and holds 45% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 40 | 192 |
| 2013 | 45 | 113 |
| 2014 | 47 | 48 |
| 2015 | 27 | 27 |
| 2016 | 56 | 55 |
| 2017 | 40 | 41 |
| 2018 | 57 | 59 |
| 2019 | 31 | 29 |
| 2020 | 81 | 78 |
| 2021 | 71 | 80 |
| 2022 | 4.2 | 4 |
| 2023 | 5.3 | 5 |
| 2024 | 6.3 | 6 |
| 2025 | 11 | 10 |
Other regions of Afghanistan
- Kunar68 km² in an average year
- Nimruz53 km² in an average year
- Kunduz45 km² in an average year
- Badghis43 km² in an average year
- Khost39 km² in an average year
- Balkh36 km² in an average year
- How these figures are madeDetected area, cells, and the single-satellite record.
Detected area counts every 0.01° cell with at least one VIIRS detection, so a small fire counts as a whole cell and a fire missed by cloud or between passes is absent. Borders: Natural Earth 1:10m. 2012 begins on 20 January.