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The CAMS Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) assimilates fire radiative power (FRP) observations from satellite-based sensors to produce estimates of biomass burning emissions. FRP observations currently assimilated in CAMS GFAS are MODIS and VIIRS active fire products (https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/). The rate of release of thermal radiation by a fire is directly believed to be related to the rate at which fuel is being consumed and smoke produced. Therefore, these FRP data are used (after screening for spurious signal) in the global estimation of open vegetation fire trace gas and particulate emissions. GFAS includes also information about injection heights derived from the same FRP observations combined with meteorological information from the ECMWF operational weather forecast.
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This page provides the documentation for GFAS v1.4.2.
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CAMS GFAS fire data is based on satellite observations of thermal anomalies at the surface which are most commonly associated with vegetation fires, however, detections from other heat sources (such as active volcanos and gas flaring) and reflective surfaces may also be possible. GFAS tries to minimise these spurious detections to ensure that the data is largely based on vegetation fires. Satellite observations may be limited by smaller fires being below the detection threshold of the instruments or in the presence of cloud when the instruments are not able to observe the surface. |
Evolution of the CAMS Global Fire Assimilation System
GFAS undergoes regular enhancements in order to better meet user needs and improve the service.
| Implementation date | Version | Summary of changes / features |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 5, 2025 | 1.4.2 |
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| Jan 22, 2019 | 1.4.1 |
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| Jul 3, 2018 | 1.2 |
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Temporal frequency
GFAS v1.4.2 runs hourly and produces hourly and 24-hour rolling average output.
- Hourly fields are based on the next hour observations with respect to valid time.
- 24-hour rolling average fields are based on the next 0-23 hourly fields (next 0-24 hour observations) with respect to valid time.
Data access
CAMS GFAS data 1.4.2 from December 2025 to the present The latest seven days of the data can be accessed through the ECMWF data portal (aux.ecmwf.int; SFTP/FTP/HTTPS data access). To get access to CAMS GFAS data, you need a user accounts on the ECMWF website, and on the ECMWF data portal. For more details . For a list of variables available on the FTP please see here.
Before downloading data, users must accept the license on the Atmosphere Data Store.
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Data format
The GFAS File format is GRIB2 GRIB1. See What are GRIB files and how can I read them for more information.
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Table 1 below provides the injection height parameters and Table 2 provides analysis surface parameters.
Anchor table1 table1
Table1: Gridded injection height parameters from IS4FIRES (last reviewed on )
| table1 | |
| table1 |
Name | Units | Short name | Parameter ID |
| Altitude of plume top | m | apt | 120.210 |
| Altitude of plume bottom | m | apb | 242.210 |
| Injection height | m | injh | 60.210 |
Anchor table2 table2
Table 2: CAMS GFAS analysis surface parameters (last reviewed on )
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| table2 |
| Name | Units | Short name | Parameter ID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wildfire combustion rate | kg m-2 s-1 | crfire | 100.210 |
| Wildfire flux of acetaldehyde (C2H4O) | kg m-2 s-1 | c2h4ofire | 114.210 |
| Wildfire flux of acetone (C3H6O) | kg m-2 s-1 | c3h6ofire | 115.210 |
| Wildfire flux of ammonia (NH3) | kg m-2 s-1 | nh3fire | 116.210 |
| Wildfire flux of benzene (C6H6) | kg m-2 s-1 | c6h6fire | 232.210 |
| Wildfire flux of black carbon | kg m-2 s-1 | bcfire | 91.210 |
| Wildfire flux of butanes (C4H10) | kg m-2 s-1 | c4h10fire | 238.210 |
| Wildfire flux of butenes (C4H8) | kg m-2 s-1 | c4h8fire | 234.210 |
| Wildfire flux of carbon dioxide (CO2) | kg m-2 s-1 | co2fire | 80.210 |
| Wildfire flux of carbon monoxide (CO) | kg m-2 s-1 | cofire | 81.210 |
| Wildfire flux of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) (C2H6S) | kg m-2 s-1 | c2h6sfire | 117.210 |
| Wildfire flux of ethane (C2H6) | kg m-2 s-1 | c2h6fire | 118.210 |
| Wildfire flux of ethanol (C2H5OH) | kg m-2 s-1 | c2h5ohfire | 104.210 |
| Wildfire flux of ethene (C2H4) | kg m-2 s-1 | c2h4fire | 106.210 |
| Wildfire flux of formaldehyde (CH2O) | kg m-2 s-1 | ch2ofire | 113.210 |
| Wildfire flux of heptane (C7H16) | kg m-2 s-1 | c7h16fire | 241.210 |
| Wildfire flux of hexanes (C6H14) | kg m-2 s-1 | c6h14fire | 240.210 |
| Wildfire flux of hexene (C6H12) | kg m-2 s-1 | c6h12fire | 236.210 |
| Wildfire flux of higher alkanes (CnH2n+2, c>=4) | kg m-2 s-1 | hialkanesfire | 112.210 |
| Wildfire flux of higher alkenes (CnH2n, c>=4) | kg m-2 s-1 | hialkenesfire | 111.210 |
| Wildfire flux of hydrogen (H) | kg m-2 s-1 | h2fire | 84.210 |
| Wildfire flux of isoprene (C5H8) | kg m-2 s-1 | c5h8fire | 108.210 |
| Wildfire flux of methane (CH4) | kg m-2 s-1 | ch4fire | 82.210 |
| Wildfire flux of methanol (CH3OH) | kg m-2 s-1 | ch3ohfire | 103.210 |
| Wildfire flux of nitrogen oxides (NOx) | kg m-2 s-1 | noxfire | 85.210 |
| Wildfire flux of nitrous oxide (N20) | kg m-2 s-1 | n2ofire | 86.210 |
| Wildfire flux of non-methane hydrocarbons | kg m-2 s-1 | nmhcfire | 83.210 |
| Wildfire flux of octene (C8H16) | kg m-2 s-1 | c8h16fire | 237.210 |
| Wildfire flux of organic carbon | kg m-2 s-1 | ocfire | 90.210 |
| Wildfire flux of particulate matter d < 2.5 µm (PM2.5) | kg m-2 s-1 | pm2p5fire | 87.210 |
| Wildfire flux of pentanes (C5H12) | kg m-2 s-1 | c5h12fire | 239.210 |
| Wildfire flux of pentenes (C5H10) | kg m-2 s-1 | c5h10fire | 235.210 |
| Wildfire flux of propane (C3H8) | kg m-2 s-1 | c3h8fire | 105.210 |
| Wildfire flux of propene (C3H6) | kg m-2 s-1 | c3h6fire | 107.210 |
| Wildfire flux of sulphur dioxide (SO2) | kg m-2 s-1 | so2fire | 102.210 |
| Wildfire flux of terpenes ((C5H8)n) | kg m-2 s-1 | terpenesfire | 109.210 |
| Wildfire flux of toluene (C7H8) | kg m-2 s-1 | c7h8fire | 231.210 |
| Wildfire flux of toluene_lump (C7H8+ C6H6 + C8H10) | kg m-2 s-1 | toluenefire | 110.210 |
| Wildfire flux of total carbon in aerosols | kg m-2 s-1 | tcfire | 89.210 |
| Wildfire flux of total particulate matter | kg m-2 s-1 | tpmfire | 88.210 |
| Wildfire flux of xylene (C8H10) | kg m-2 s-1 | c8h10fire | 233.210 |
| Wildfire fraction of area observed / Inverse FRP variance* | dimensionless | offire | 97.210 |
| Wildfire overall flux of burnt carbon | kg m-2 s-1 | cfire | 92.210 |
Wildfire radiative power* | W m-2 | frpfire | 99.210 |
*available only as hourly fields; not screened for spurious signal
Satellites and instruments
The table below presents the observations used in GFAS v1.4.2. FRP observations are from the MODIS instruments on the NASA Terra and Aqua satellites which were launched in December 1999 and June 2002 respectively, and the VIIRS instrument on the NASA/NOAA SNPP satellite which was launched in October 2011.
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(last reviewed on )
| Parameter | Instrument | Satellite | Satellite operational period | Data provider/version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRP | MODIS | Terra | 2000-present | NASA LANCE, collection 6.1 |
| FRP | MODIS | Aqua | 2003-present | NASA LANCE, collection 6.1 |
| FRP | VIIRS | SNPP | 2012-present | NASA LANCE, collection 2 |
GFAS Maps
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Known issues
| Issue type | Description | Version | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Update of the screening of spurious signal | An improved screening of spurious signal has been implemented in v1.4.1 and v1.4.2 on Jan 28 and Jan 23 2026, respectively. | 1.4.1 and 1.4.2 | Resolved |
Q&A
Users can find the Q&A for wildfires here.
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