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Wildfires in Upper Nile
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 09:22 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 73,330 km² of Upper Nile at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 35,650 km², ranking 4th of 10 regions of South Sudan.
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 2024, with 43,400 km² detected; the quietest was 2022, with 30,600 km². The 2021–2025 average is within 5% of 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.
November, December and January together hold 59% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 13 December 2015, with detections in 1,354 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 73,330 km² with at least one detection, 90% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 3,220 | 4.4% |
| 2 years | 3,880 | 5.3% |
| 3 to 5 years | 18,200 | 25% |
| 6 to 10 years | 38,980 | 53% |
| 11 years or more | 9,040 | 12% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at 8.75, 33.25 and holds 7.6% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 35,580 | 41,028 |
| 2013 | 30,920 | 37,193 |
| 2014 | 36,070 | 44,479 |
| 2015 | 39,660 | 52,729 |
| 2016 | 37,410 | 49,264 |
| 2017 | 35,540 | 46,639 |
| 2018 | 36,400 | 48,966 |
| 2019 | 32,210 | 41,163 |
| 2020 | 33,440 | 43,034 |
| 2021 | 32,250 | 44,174 |
| 2022 | 30,600 | 42,336 |
| 2023 | 37,880 | 55,298 |
| 2024 | 43,400 | 64,884 |
| 2025 | 37,790 | 54,714 |
Other regions of South Sudan
- Western Bahr el Ghazal56,430 km² in an average year
- Western Equatoria55,660 km² in an average year
- Jonglei49,900 km² in an average year
- Central Equatoria29,410 km² in an average year
- Lakes21,590 km² in an average year
- Eastern Equatoria20,390 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
- Oromia, Ethiopia109 km
- Gambela Peoples, Ethiopia123 km
- Jonglei166 km
- Blue Nile, Sudan199 km
- South Kordofan, Sudan275 km
- Unity384 km