NASA FIRMS

aid: nasa-firms
name: NASA FIRMS
description: >
  NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) REST API providing
  near-real-time satellite fire detections globally from MODIS (Terra/Aqua),
  VIIRS (S-NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21), and LANDSAT instruments. Data is available
  within 3 hours of satellite observation worldwide, with Ultra Real-Time
  detections available within 60 seconds for the US and Canada. Supports
  area-based bounding box queries, KML fire footprints by region, data
  availability checks, and missing data identification. Free MAP_KEY
  registration required.
image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/nasa-firms/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
type: Index
tags:
  - NASA
  - Fire Detection
  - Satellite
  - MODIS
  - VIIRS
  - Remote Sensing
  - Open Data
  - Environmental
  - Geospatial
  - Science

apis:

  - aid: nasa-firms:area-fire-detections
    name: FIRMS Area Fire Detections API
    description: >
      Returns active fire detection hotspots for a defined bounding box area,
      satellite source, and day range in CSV format. Supports all available
      sensors including MODIS NRT/SP, VIIRS NOAA-20/NOAA-21/S-NPP NRT/SP, and
      LANDSAT NRT (US/Canada only). Day range is 1 to 5 days. An optional
      specific start date can be supplied; without it the query returns data
      ending at the most recent available.
    image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
    humanURL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/area/
    baseURL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov
    tags:
      - Fire Detection
      - MODIS
      - VIIRS
      - LANDSAT
      - CSV
      - Bounding Box
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/area/
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: openapi/nasa-firms-openapi.yml
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/fire-detection.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/area-fire-detections-request.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/area-fire-detections-response.csv
    contact:
      - FN: NASA FIRMS Support
        url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/contact/

  - aid: nasa-firms:kml-fire-footprints
    name: FIRMS KML Fire Footprints API
    description: >
      Returns KMZ files containing color-coded fire footprint polygons for
      predefined global regions and time spans (24, 48, 72 hours or 7 days).
      Sensor options include MODIS c6.1, LANDSAT 30m, and VIIRS 375m products
      from S-NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21. Footprints are color-coded by detection
      age: 0-6h, 6-12h, 12-24h, and 24h+.
    image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
    humanURL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/kml_fire_footprints/
    baseURL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov
    tags:
      - KML
      - KMZ
      - Fire Footprints
      - Geospatial
      - Regional
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/kml_fire_footprints/
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: openapi/nasa-firms-openapi.yml
      - type: Example
        url: examples/kml-fire-footprints-request.json
    contact:
      - FN: NASA FIRMS Support
        url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/contact/

  - aid: nasa-firms:data-availability
    name: FIRMS Data Availability API
    description: >
      Returns CSV data indicating which dates have Standard Processing (SP) and
      Near Real-Time (NRT) data available for a specified sensor. Supports
      individual sensor queries or ALL to retrieve availability for every sensor
      in a single call. Useful for determining the temporal coverage before
      submitting fire detection queries.
    image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
    humanURL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/data_availability/
    baseURL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov
    tags:
      - Data Availability
      - Sensor Coverage
      - CSV
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/data_availability/
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: openapi/nasa-firms-openapi.yml
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/data-availability.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/data-availability-request.json
    contact:
      - FN: NASA FIRMS Support
        url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/contact/

  - aid: nasa-firms:missing-data
    name: FIRMS Missing Data API
    description: >
      Identifies dates for which satellite fire detection data is absent from
      the database, organized by satellite and data type. Each response line
      represents one day of missing data for a particular sensor. Near
      Real-Time entries only appear for dates beyond the final standard
      processing date for each satellite.
    image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
    humanURL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/missing_data/
    baseURL: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov
    tags:
      - Missing Data
      - Data Quality
      - Satellite Coverage
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/missing_data/
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: openapi/nasa-firms-openapi.yml
    contact:
      - FN: NASA FIRMS Support
        url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/contact/

common:

  - type: Website
    url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/

  - type: Documentation
    url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/

  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/area/

  - type: Authentication
    url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/

  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/nasa

  - type: TermsOfService
    url: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/engage/open-data-services-and-software/data-and-information-policy

  - type: Pricing
    url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/api/

  - type: Blog
    url: https://earthdata.nasa.gov/

  - type: Contact
    url: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/contact/

  - type: Plans
    url: plans/nasa-firms-plans-pricing.yml

  - type: RateLimits
    url: rate-limits/nasa-firms-rate-limits.yml

  - type: FinOps
    url: finops/nasa-firms-finops.yml

  - type: Vocabulary
    url: vocabulary/nasa-firms-vocabulary.yml

  - type: JSONLDContext
    url: json-ld/nasa-firms-context.jsonld

maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: [email protected]