What is the time delay between satellite overpass and data provision on FIRMS?
The data feed from the MODIS sensors is continuous and at a download rate of +/- 1 terabyte per day. Thermal band information is received constantly from the ground receiving stations and processed by MODIS Rapid Response at NASA as soon as it is received. Data processed by MODIS Rapid Response are made available as active fire data on the FIRMS website approximately 2 – 4 hours after local overpass. Occasionally, hardware errors mean that it takes longer the 2-4 hours to process the data. For information on the system status of MODIS Rapid Response, see: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/status/ Please refer to the data formats table for detailed information on when each FIRMS service is updated.
