AURSEEAursee
Wildfires in Afar
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 2026-09-23
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 6,420 km² of Afar at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 1,020 km², ranking 7th of 11 regions of Ethiopia.
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 2025, with 2,050 km² detected; the quietest was 2016, with 582 km². The 2021–2025 average is 83% 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.
April, May and June together hold 30% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 2 June 2025, with detections in 60 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 6,420 km² with at least one detection, 29% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 3,250 | 51% |
| 2 years | 1,330 | 21% |
| 3 to 5 years | 1,400 | 22% |
| 6 to 10 years | 427 | 6.7% |
| 11 years or more | 6.0 | 0.1% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at 13.75, 40.75 and holds 40% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 891 | 1,820 |
| 2013 | 867 | 1,727 |
| 2014 | 698 | 1,372 |
| 2015 | 955 | 1,856 |
| 2016 | 582 | 1,258 |
| 2017 | 903 | 5,940 |
| 2018 | 619 | 2,994 |
| 2019 | 632 | 1,681 |
| 2020 | 744 | 902 |
| 2021 | 1,040 | 1,338 |
| 2022 | 1,680 | 2,373 |
| 2023 | 1,540 | 1,843 |
| 2024 | 1,010 | 1,239 |
| 2025 | 2,050 | 2,815 |
Other regions of Ethiopia
- Benishangul-Gumuz34,710 km² in an average year
- Oromia25,580 km² in an average year
- Southern Nations21,450 km² in an average year
- Amhara17,220 km² in an average year
- Gambela Peoples13,700 km² in an average year
- Tigray4,390 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.
Nearby regions
- Tigray378 km
- Gash-Barka, Eritrea381 km
- Jazan, Saudi Arabia421 km
- Al Qadarif, Sudan552 km
- Kassala, Sudan557 km
- Amhara566 km