European Space Agency integrates wildfire view into Copernicus browser

The European Space Agency (ESA) has officially integrated a wildfire visualization tool into its Copernicus browser, simplifying how users monitor forest fires. Previously, specialists had to manually copy and paste custom visualization scripts to identify fire activity on Sentinel-2 imagery. This technical hurdle has been removed following an initiative by Simon Proud, a Sentinel-2 mission specialist, to make the feature a standard, one-click option.

The new visualization layer uses specific color coding to assist firefighters and investigators: white and yellow represent active flames, red indicates burning vegetation, and dark brown or black denotes already charred surfaces. While Sentinel-2 provides high-resolution imagery—reaching up to ten meters in certain spectral bands—it updates every few days. This complements NASA's FIRMS system, which provides more frequent updates but at a lower spatial resolution of approximately 250 meters.

The integration provides journalists, investigators, and the public with a streamlined tool for mapping disasters and conflict zones without requiring coding knowledge.