In the era of escalating climate threats, wildfires have become more frequent, more intense and more unpredictable. As flames spread across forests and communities, heavy smoke often blankets the landscape, rendering traditional Earth Observation tools ineffective. In this challenging context, satellites equipped with short-wave infrared (SWIR) sensors offer a powerful advantage: the ability to detect fire through smoke, assess damage in real time and support emergency response with actionable intelligence.
Short-wave infrared, or SWIR, refers to a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum typically ranging from 1.0 to 2.5 micrometers. This spectral window lies beyond the range of human vision and even beyond the near-infrared sensors commonly used in remote sensing. What makes SWIR particularly valuable is its ability to penetrate smoke and thin cloud cover. Unlike visible or NIR imagery, which can be obstructed by dense atmospheric particles, SWIR captures thermal signatures and material differences on the ground with clarity. It is especially sensitive to temperature variations, vegetation moisture levels and surface changes caused by combustion.
During a wildfire event, SWIR imagery is indispensable. It can reveal the location of active fire fronts obscured by thick smoke, distinguish between hot ash and open flames and identify smoldering zones that may reignite. Beyond immediate detection, SWIR data also enables post-fire assessment by mapping burn scars and estimating the severity of damage to ecosystems. This information is critical for land managers, insurance assessors, and humanitarian responders who need accurate, high-resolution data under time pressure.
Among the most capable satellites providing SWIR data is Maxar Technologies’ WorldView-3. Launched in 2014, WorldView-3 is the cutting-edge satellite offering eight SWIR bands at a ground resolution of 3.7 meters. This level of detail is exceptional in the SWIR domain and allows for precise fire detection even in complex terrains. The satellite's agility and frequent revisit make it ideal for monitoring rapidly evolving wildfire situations.
While commercial platforms like WorldView-3 offer unparalleled resolution, publicly available missions such as the European Sentinel-2 have also proven essential in wildfire monitoring. Sentinel-2 carries SWIR bands (Band 11 and 12) at a spatial resolution of 20 meters, which are widely used to detect active fires, map burn scars and estimate post-fire vegetation stress. One of the key advantages of Sentinel-2 is its frequent revisit time – as short as five days globally – combined with its open-access policy. This makes it an invaluable source of data for governments, researchers and environmental agencies around the world. Using indices like the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR), analysts can quantify burn severity and monitor ecosystem recovery over time. Although the resolution is coarser than commercial satellites, Sentinel-2’s consistency, multispectral range and global coverage make it a cornerstone of operational fire mapping workflows.
Despite these successes, there are limitations. SWIR performance can still be affected by thick cloud decks or extreme weather conditions and the high cost of commercial imagery can restrict access in some regions. Nonetheless, as satellite technology advances and the frequency of extreme fire events increases, the demand for SWIR data in wildfire management is expected to grow.
For Earth observation professionals, researchers and crisis responders, the integration of SWIR sensors into operational monitoring frameworks represents a critical leap forward. Whether through ultra-high-resolution data from WorldView-3 or through AI-enhanced imagery from public satellites like Sentinel-2, SWIR is reshaping how we see and respond to fire on a warming planet.