Name of product or service:
30 Day Comment Period Open for Modification to Hazard Mapping System (HMS) Fire Point Analysis
Date/Time Issued:
February 6, 2026 at 1500 UTC
Product(s) or Data Impacted:
HMS active fires detected between LAT 14.6N - 72N and LON 170W - 50W
Date/Time of Initial Impact:
TBD
Description of change:
Due to recent advancements in NOAA’s satellite-based fire monitoring products, the Satellite Analysis Branch intends to transition away from routine manual verification of automated fire detections within the Hazard Mapping System. This change is expected to reduce total fire pixel counts by approximately 5%, though daily or seasonal impacts may vary more broadly. These potential fire omissions will be most noticeable at the local level, particularly for low-intensity fires or those obscured by clouds or smoke. Additionally, false alarms – which typically remain below 1% – will no longer be manually filtered. While relatively infrequent, outstanding fire detection artifacts next to pyrocumulus clouds may occasionally result in erroneous fire growth data. Note that data will continue to be distributed using the same file formats and access points. NOAA is currently developing new value-added products to further enhance our suite of public fire and smoke monitoring services.
30-day comment and rebuttal period: Please utilize this form to provide comments and impacts to this proposed modification.
Please provide your comments by March 11, 2026.
Web Site(s) for applicable information: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/products/land/hms.html#statistics
Contact for Further Information: Please email User Services at spsd.userservices@noaa.gov or SAB’s land domain lead, Wilfrid Schroeder, at wilfrid.schroeder@noaa.gov.
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