News and updates

*NOTE*

2024-06-01

The AFIS Viewer is in the process of being updated. It might happen that the website might not be reachable for short periods of time when the operational system is being updated. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

API access for historical data

2023-01-23

An API facility is now provided from which historical data can be downloaded. This included monthly historical burned are data, active fires, veld age and day of burn. Please contact us to find out more.

FDI legend on Windy Viewer

2022-09-12

The legend of the LFDI (Lowveld Fire Danger Index) is now added to the Legend button on the left panel of the Windy viewer.

Windy Viewer

2022-08-04

The Windy viewer from Windy.com is imbedded into AFIS as a separate optional viewer. It provides animated meteorological patterns of temperature, air pressure, rain, and wind from the surface to 13.5 km altitude. A timeline current and forecasted views are available as a slider at the bottom of the viewer.

Historical active fire data

2022-06-04

Historical active fire data can now be viewed on the AFIS viewer by using the date scrollbar at the bottom of the screen. The active fires are shown in daily increments. This feature is in addition to the existing 30-day layer that is available in the map layer options.

Fire Danger Index values calculated hourly

2022-01-31

Values for the Lowveld Fire Danger Index (LFDI) is calculated on an hourly basis and meteorological data that is used for the point calculation is shown in the drop-down menu. Points are colour coded according to index value from blue to red (low - very high fire danger).

Legend of Veld age layer

2021-11-13

Veld age in number of years since burn are shown in a standardized colour legend that can be accessed from the map layers drop-down menu by clicking on the information (ⓘ) icon.

Veld age layer

2021-10-11

A "veld-age" map has been added. Veld is a term used in Southern Africa that refers to an area covered in grass or low scrub. The veld age map is derived from MODIS burnt area data and provides an indication of the age of the vegetation based on the previous burn as per MODIS. Click on the info (ⓘ) icon in the layer selector for the map legend.

UptimeRobot

2021-10-01

The functionality of Uptime Robot was added to the AFIS viewer. This provides a graphic representation of the operational "up-time" of the various services of AFIS. It can be accessed via the "Status" button on the left panel of the AFIS viewer.

Date selector

2021-09-30

The user can now select a date to see the map as it would have been at the end of the selected day.

User interface changes

2021-08-11

Changes:
  • FDI pins now show the 14H00 FDI rather than current
  • Ability to hide "Old Fires" layer
  • Replaced Open Street Maps layer with ESRI Topographic in the Swipe control
  • Added Login/Logout link

Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)

2021-06-28

We have added MSG thermal hotspots as a new layer. These hotspots are less acurate than the MODIS and VIIRS active fires but updates every 15 minutes, providing an early indication of where fires are possibly burning. We have also added a layer-switcher with tansparency control per layer. An FDI pin bug was fixed.

Daily summary or Fire Danger Index

2021-05-25

The layout of the FDI InfoPanel now includes the 14H00 FDI for each day. The user can provide a name for new FDI pins so that a screenshot can be taken of the FDI forecast for locations of interest.

New feature: Fire Danger Index

2021-01-04

Lowveld Fire Danger Index (LFDI) of the South African National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS): FDI pins can be dropped on the Map Viewer either by touching and holding a finger on a touch screen or clicking and holding down the mouse button for a moment. The LFDI and weather forecast is available in an InfoPanel that opens when a user touches or clicks on an FDI pin. LFDI calculated from weather stations is visible in the Windy Viewer as circles styled with the NFDRS colour codes and the wind direction and strength. Consult the legend, available in the Sidebar to the left of the map (click the icon top right of the screen on mobile devices).

User interface changes

2020-05-26

Minor changes:
  • Zoom slider removed because of mobile interface issue
  • Full screen mode added
  • Reveal tool button moved
  • Reveal tool now works at all zoom levels
  • Mouse coordinates added
  • Feedback button moved to side bar
  • New data countdown moved to sidebar

New features

2020-04-06

Some new features have been added to the AFIS Map Viewer:
  • Basemap reveal tool
  • 30cm resolution basemap zoom levels (where available)
  • Open Street Map swipe tool
  • News page

COVID-19 link added

2020-03-27

Added a link to https://sacoronavirus.co.za in response to regulation No. 43164