Date/Time Issued: March 12, 2026 1400 UTC
Product(s) or Data Impacted: HMS active fires detected between Latitudes range from 14.6° North to 72° North, and longitudes extend from 170° West to 50° West.
Date/Time of Initial Impact: April 15, 2026 0000 UTC
Details/Specifics of Change:
The Satellite Analysis Branch will retire the standard practice of manually verifying automated fire detections in the Hazard Mapping System. This change is a direct result of recent improvements in NOAA's satellite-based fire monitoring products. 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.
Web Site(s) for applicable information: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/products/land/hms.html#events
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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