AURSEEAursee
Wildfires in Antarctica
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 06:21 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 2026-09-21
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 181 km² of Antarctica at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 14 km², ranking 189th of 200 countries.
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 2021, with 30 km² detected; the quietest was 2023, with 8.5 km². The 2021–2025 average is 16% higher 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.
March, April and May together hold 39% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 20 February 2012, with detections in 14 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 181 km² with at least one detection, 0.6% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 179 | 99% |
| 2 years | 1.1 | 0.6% |
| 3 to 5 years | 0.0 | 0.0% |
| 6 to 10 years | 0.0 | 0.0% |
| 11 years or more | 1.1 | 0.6% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -77.75, 167.25 and holds 87% of the country's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 18 | 348 |
| 2013 | 10 | 314 |
| 2014 | 9.2 | 250 |
| 2015 | 11 | 247 |
| 2016 | 12 | 300 |
| 2017 | 14 | 260 |
| 2018 | 18 | 440 |
| 2019 | 16 | 419 |
| 2020 | 15 | 255 |
| 2021 | 30 | 405 |
| 2022 | 14 | 365 |
| 2023 | 8.5 | 435 |
| 2024 | 9.3 | 330 |
| 2025 | 9.3 | 199 |
Nearby countries
- 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.
What sits behind each of these fires
Attached to every fire in the list above, and redrawn hourly.
