Near real-time · Himawari-9 · Nationwide

Australia’s major bushfires, mapped from space every 10 minutes

Satellite imagery of the whole continent, processed into five fire-focused composites, detected hotspots and nearby exposure — in a web mapping app and through API.

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Questions about using the app or data? Please contact us.

Mapping Major Bushfires in Australia · Case Study

The mapping app showing the Hotspots composite over south-east Australia on 4 January 2020, with active fire fronts glowing orange between Canberra, Omeo and Mallacoota.

Black Summer · Sat 4 Jan 2020, 3:00 PM AEDTHotspots composite, south-east Australia

10MINNew satellite image, day and night

<20MINFrom capture to published maps

5Composite styles, each showing a different aspect of fire

4Product levels, from map tiles to exposed addresses

R&D Background

Built on years of fire research from space

Australia is the driest inhabited continent and highly vulnerable to climate change. BigData Earth brings many years of bushfire observation from space, together with fire hazard, exposure and risk modelling, to help gain a timely, big-picture view of major bushfires across the country.

Our Spectral Discovery software processes imagery from Japan’s geostationary Himawari-8/9 satellites, which scan Australia every 10 minutes. Rapid band combinations, adaptive stretching and image fusion produce five composites — natural colour, vegetation, burnt areas, hotspots and thermal anomalies — published as map tiles in under 20 minutes. Read the mapping study

To detect hotspots we combine neural-network models with threshold selection, and compared results with 10–15 m Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 imagery on extreme fire-weather days of the 2019–20 Black Summer. At ~2 km resolution, composite images suit public warning best, while extracted hotspot features support exposure and risk analysis. Read the hotspot study

Himawari full-disk view with composites of Australia

01 · PROGRAM

Mapping App

One map for the control room and the fireground

A full-screen web map that puts the latest Himawari-9 image, detected hotspots and the addresses near them in one view. It reads clearly on a wall display and is light enough for a tablet in the truck. Nothing to install: open it in a browser.

Live mode: Hotspots composite of Australia with detected hotspot pins across northern Australia and Queensland; the panel lists 286 hotspots and 2,387 nearby addresses.

Case Study mode: Black Summer fire fronts between Canberra and Mallacoota on 4 January 2020 in the Hotspots composite.

Live mode · Wed 7 Oct 2026, 6:20 PM AEDT. Tap a number to see what each control does.

1
Find any place
Search towns and localities across Australia. The imagery opacity slider sits under the zoom buttons.
2
Detected hotspots
Pins coloured by brightness temperature. Click one for its time, temperature and fire-pixel confidence.
3
Choose a composite
Daytime styles for smoke and burn scars; 24-hour styles for heat, including overnight runs.
4
Hotspots and nearby exposure
Turn on the addresses near detected hotspots, coloured by distance to the nearest one.
5
Three-hour timeline
Play back fire spread, step frame by frame and set the speed. AEDT/AEST is handled automatically.
6
Know how fresh it is
The LIVE badge counts down to the next image and turns amber if the feed is delayed.

Potential uses in fire management

Broad-scale context from ~2 km imagery, alongside local information

Control & coordination centres

Broad situational awareness

A regional overview of where heat and smoke are being detected, day and night, with a clear indication of how recent the latest image is.

Live mode
Hotspots 24 h
Full screen

Planning & intelligence

Supporting context

Follow the general development of larger fires over recent hours, see the broad extent and drift of smoke, and gauge how many addresses lie near detected hotspots.

Timeline
Natural colour
Exposure

Field & liaison

A lightweight overview

Opens in a web browser on a tablet or phone, with compact image tiles for patchy coverage and place search to jump to a locality.

Search
Hotspot popups
Mobile

Recovery, research & review

After the event

Indicate the general extent of burnt areas, download imagery and hotspot layers for any frame, and replay past events for training, research and review.

Burnt areas
Downloads
Case Study

Read the fire five ways

Himawari composites, south-east Australia, Sat 4 Jan 2020, 2:00 PM AEDT

Natural colour composite: smoke plumes streaming east over south-east Australia — Natural colour
Visible bands
Smoke plumes: their extent, drift and direction.

Colour-infrared composite with healthy vegetation in red — Vegetation
Colour infrared
Healthy vegetation in red, for fuel and landscape context.

Short-wave infrared composite highlighting burnt areas — Burnt areas
Short-wave & infrared (SWIR)
Fresh burn scars and the edges of fire grounds.

Hotspots composite: active fire fronts glowing yellow and orange — Hotspots
Mid-infrared & SWIR
Active fire fronts glow yellow-orange, day and night.

Thermal anomalies from Band 07: active fires as bright white pixels — Thermal anomalies
Band 07 · 3.9 µm
The raw heat signal, through thin smoke and after dark.

Everything in the app

No install, no plug-ins

Live mode

The latest three hours of imagery, a new frame every 10 minutes.

Case Study mode

Replay Black Summer, 4 Jan 2020, for training and review.

Detected hotspots

Pins classed by Band 7 brightness temperature, with popups.

Nearby exposure

G-NAF addresses near hotspots, coloured by distance.

Timeline playback

Play, pause, step and set speed; local daylight-saving handled.

Reference overlays

Cities, Great Dividing Range, catchments, LGAs and states.

Search & basemaps

Place search, opacity control, satellite, terrain or street basemaps.

Downloads

Level 1–3 products for the selected frame.

Know the limits

~2 km pixels. Small or low-intensity fires can be missed, and hotspot positions are approximate.
Cloud hides fire. Thick cloud blocks the view; heavy smoke mutes the daytime composites.
About 20 minutes behind. Longer delays are rare and happen only when the Himawari-9 source data is unavailable or incomplete. The LIVE badge turns amber when the feed is delayed.
Pixel temperatures. Hotspot temperatures are Band 7 brightness temperatures, not flame temperatures.
Supplementary intelligence. Always confirm with official warnings, line-scan and ground reports.
Alongside official services. Complements national and state hotspot services with fire-focused imagery composites and address-level exposure.

Use in your organisation

Agencies, councils, utilities, insurers, media and researchers, or anyone wanting to build the maps and data into their own systems: please contact us to discuss your needs and API access.

Launch App Contact us

Products & API

Four product levels. Every 10 minutes. One API.

Every Himawari-9 image is processed into four product levels, from map tiles ready for your common operating picture to the addresses near each hotspot. All levels are available by API key.

Level0

Tiled web maps (XYZ tiles)

JPGXYZ · Web Mercator

Ready-to-display tile layers in all five composite styles, published nationwide every 10 minutes.

Potential uses: add the latest image as a background layer for broad-scale context in your common operating picture, QGIS, ArcGIS or web dashboards.

Tilesets: tileset1 natural · tileset2 vegetation · tileset3 burnt · tileset4 hotspots · tileset7 thermal
Zoom levels: 5–7, about 4.8, 2.4 and 1.2 km ground resolution
Pattern: /h9/{year}/{month}/{day}/{hhmm}/{tileset}/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg

curl -o tile.jpg https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/tileset4/6/58/38.jpg \
  -H "apikey: YOUR_API_KEY"

# or with the key in the URL
https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/tileset4/6/58/38.jpg?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

# QGIS: Browser panel → XYZ Tiles → New Connection → URL  (min zoom 5, max zoom 7)
https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/tileset4/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

# ArcGIS Online: Add layer from URL → Tile layer
https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/tileset4/{level}/{col}/{row}.jpg?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

L.tileLayer(
  'https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/tileset4/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY',
  { minZoom: 5, maxNativeZoom: 7, opacity: 0.85,
    attribution: 'Himawari-9 (JMA) | BigData Earth' }
).addTo(map);

Level1

Processed composite images

GeoTIFF1 km · nationwide

Georeferenced composites of the whole country, ready for GIS, remote-sensing and machine-learning workflows.

Potential uses: indicate the broad extent of burnt areas, compare images over the course of an event, and provide inputs for research and large-area analysis.

Image ID: HS_H09_{YYYYMMDD}_{hhmm}_RGB{n} n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 7
Styles: RGB1–3 daytime (natural, vegetation, burnt) · RGB4, RGB7 day and night (hotspots, thermal)
Pattern: /h9/{year}/{month}/{day}/{hhmm}/{image-id}.tif

# Hotspots composite (RGB4), 01:40 UTC 7 Oct 2026
curl -o HS_H09_20261007_0140_RGB4.tif \
  "https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/HS_H09_20261007_0140_RGB4.tif?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY"

https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/{year}/{month}/{day}/{hhmm}/{image-id}.tif?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

# e.g. natural colour and thermal for the same frame
https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/HS_H09_20261007_0140_RGB1.tif?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY
https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/HS_H09_20261007_0140_RGB7.tif?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

Level2

Hotspot feature layers

GeoJSONPoints · WGS 84

Every hotspot detected in an image as a point feature, with time, brightness temperature and fire-pixel confidence.

Potential uses: flag hotspots detected in or near an area of interest for follow-up, or show them in your own dashboards alongside other information.

Layer ID: HS_H09_{YYYYMMDD}_{hhmm}_Hotspots_V1
Attributes: id lat lon obs_time_UTC obs_time_AEDT temperature_K temperature_C confidence_fire_pixel
Pattern: /h9/{year}/{month}/{day}/{hhmm}/{layer-id}.geojson

curl -o hotspots.geojson \
  "https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/HS_H09_20261007_0140_Hotspots_V1.geojson?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY"

import requests

AOI = (148.0, -37.8, 150.2, -35.5)   # lon_min, lat_min, lon_max, lat_max
url = "https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/HS_H09_20261007_0140_Hotspots_V1.geojson"
fc = requests.get(url, params={"apikey": "YOUR_API_KEY"}, timeout=60).json()

inside = [f["properties"] for f in fc["features"]
          if AOI[0] <= f["properties"]["lon"] <= AOI[2] and AOI[1] <= f["properties"]["lat"] <= AOI[3]]
if inside:
    hottest = max(inside, key=lambda p: p["temperature_K"])
    print(f"{len(inside)} hotspots in the area of interest, hottest pixel {hottest['temperature_K']} K at {hottest['obs_time_AEDT']}")

Level3

Nearby exposure around hotspots

GeoJSONG-NAF addressesCustom exposure types

Every address within a set distance of a detected hotspot, with the nearest hotspot’s details and the distance to it.

Potential uses: gain an indicative picture of the addresses near detected hotspots, to support planning and communication.

Customised to your needs: beyond G-NAF addresses, we can match hotspots to the exposure types that matter to you, such as critical infrastructure (power, water, roads and rail), community facilities (schools, hospitals, aged care), or your own asset register, at a search distance that suits your operations.

Layer ID: HS_H09_{YYYYMMDD}_{hhmm}_Hotspots_V1_Addresses_within{metres}m
Attributes: pid address gnaf_confidence near_* (nearest hotspot) dist_m
Source: Geoscape G-NAF address points, matched every 10 minutes

curl -o exposure.geojson \
  "https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/HS_H09_20261007_0140_Hotspots_V1_Addresses_within4000m.geojson?&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY"

import requests
from collections import Counter

url = ("https://api.RiskMapping.com.au/h9/2026/10/07/0140/"
       "HS_H09_20261007_0140_Hotspots_V1_Addresses_within4000m.geojson")
fc = requests.get(url, params={"apikey": "YOUR_API_KEY"}, timeout=120).json()

near = [f["properties"] for f in fc["features"] if f["properties"]["dist_m"] <= 2000]
by_locality = Counter(p["address"].split(", ")[-3] for p in near)
for locality, n in by_locality.most_common(10):
    print(f"{locality:<24}{n:>6} addresses within 2 km")

Request console

Build any request. Times are UTC in 10-minute steps; products appear about 20 minutes after capture.

Product level

Composite

Date (UTC)

Time (UTC)

Tile z / x / y

API key accessSend the key as an apikey header, or append ?&apikey= to the URL. Request a key through the enquiry form.

Hosted in AustraliaData is stored in the AWS Sydney region and delivered through a content delivery network for low latency nationwide.

Sized to your usePlans scale with monthly volume, from evaluation keys to agency-wide access. Every plan reaches the same data.

Contact

Licensing & API access

Whether you want to use the maps in your organisation, evaluate the API products or have another question, tell us what you need. We reply within one business day.

Get in touch

We work with fire and emergency services, local government, utilities, insurers, media and researchers across Australia.

Mapping AppLaunch

Emailinfo@BigDataEarth.com

BigData Earthwww.BigDataEarth.com

Using the Mapping App in your organisation
Evaluation API keys for Levels 0–3
Bushfire hazard, exposure and risk analytics
Custom areas and integration support

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Australia’s major bushfires, mapped from space every 10 minutes

Built on years of fire research from space

Mapping Bushfire Risk in Australia

Detecting Bushfire Hotspots from Himawari-8 Imagery: Four Examples from 2019–20

Mapping Major Bushfires in Australia Using Near Real-time Himawari-8 Imagery

One map for the control room and the fireground

Find any place

Detected hotspots

Choose a composite

Hotspots and nearby exposure

Three-hour timeline

Know how fresh it is

Potential uses in fire management

Broad situational awareness

Supporting context

A lightweight overview

After the event

Read the fire five ways

Natural colour

Vegetation

Burnt areas

Hotspots

Thermal anomalies

Everything in the app

Live mode

Case Study mode

Detected hotspots

Nearby exposure

Timeline playback

Reference overlays

Search & basemaps

Downloads

Know the limits

Use in your organisation

Four product levels. Every 10 minutes. One API.

Tiled web maps (XYZ tiles)

Processed composite images

Hotspot feature layers

Nearby exposure around hotspots

Request console

Licensing & API access

Get in touch

Send us an enquiry