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Wildfires in Gulf
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 10:26 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 981 km² of Gulf at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 194 km², ranking 16th of 20 regions of Papua New Guinea.
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 2015, with 581 km² detected; the quietest was 2023, with 112 km². The 2021–2025 average is 34% 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.
September, October and November together hold 53% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 18 November 2015, with detections in 73 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 981 km² with at least one detection, 36% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 452 | 46% |
| 2 years | 177 | 18% |
| 3 to 5 years | 205 | 21% |
| 6 to 10 years | 138 | 14% |
| 11 years or more | 9.8 | 1.0% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -8.25, 146.25 and holds 79% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 156 | 143 |
| 2013 | 147 | 149 |
| 2014 | 144 | 143 |
| 2015 | 581 | 1,040 |
| 2016 | 234 | 305 |
| 2017 | 145 | 136 |
| 2018 | 167 | 173 |
| 2019 | 175 | 171 |
| 2020 | 136 | 130 |
| 2021 | 144 | 147 |
| 2022 | 321 | 429 |
| 2023 | 112 | 110 |
| 2024 | 135 | 139 |
| 2025 | 119 | 117 |
Other regions of Papua New Guinea
- Western4,740 km² in an average year
- East Sepik2,660 km² in an average year
- Morobe2,640 km² in an average year
- Central2,380 km² in an average year
- Madang2,180 km² in an average year
- Eastern Highlands1,570 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
- Port Moresby156 km
- Morobe222 km
- Eastern Highlands229 km
- Central234 km
- Chimbu248 km
- Madang283 km