Frequently asked questions

What is REYKR?

REYKR shows wildfires in Europe as they are seen from space. It reads open satellite data around the clock, groups the heat it finds into detections, and shows you each one: where it is, how strong the heat is, and how old the latest reading is. Most are wildfires; some are fixed heat sources such as industrial sites, and REYKR does not claim which is which.

REYKR is information, never an order. It supplements official warnings, such as 112, and never replaces them. If the authorities tell you to do something, do that.

Where does the data come from, and how old is it?

Two satellite layers, with different strengths:

• Meteosat fire radiative power. It looks at all of Europe every 10 minutes and is published about 17 minutes after each look. It sees fires radiating more than about 12 MW; smaller fires are invisible to this layer.
• VIIRS (on the NOAA-20 and NOAA-21 satellites). It is much sharper, with 375 m pixels, but it only looks when a satellite passes over: about 5 to 6 times a day in southern Europe, rising to around 17 times a day in the far north. Its data usually arrives 1.5 to 3.5 hours after the pass, and sometimes much later.

Every reading in REYKR shows how old it is. Look at that age before you look at anything else.

If REYKR shows nothing, am I safe?

No. «No detection» is not the same as «no fire». The satellites cannot see:

• through cloud. Under cloud, the honest answer is unknown, and REYKR shows it that way.
• between passes. VIIRS sees nothing between satellite passes, sometimes for hours.
• below their floor. Small fires, or fires giving off little heat, do not register at all.

REYKR never treats missing data as safe. Follow local authorities, and if you see or smell fire, call 112.

What does «Quiet» mean? Is the fire out?

«Quiet» means no satellite-measurable activity. It does not mean the fire is out. Fires go quiet and flare up again, and that happened during the fire REYKR was built on.

REYKR never declares a fire out. Only the fire service can do that. A fire is archived after seven days without detections, which is still not a statement that it is out.

Why might REYKR show a fire in a different place, or later, than I expected?

A satellite pixel covers an area, not a point: 375 m for VIIRS and about 1 km for Meteosat. Positions are therefore approximate. Delays come from the satellites themselves: the time until the next pass, plus the time until the data is published (see above). That is why each reading shows its age.

What is REYKR Plus, and how do I subscribe or cancel?

Plus is not open yet. You can join the waitlist, and we will write to you when it opens. There is nothing to pay today, so there is nothing to cancel.

To leave the waitlist, write to hi@reykr.eu.

Does REYKR include official warnings?

For Portugal, REYKR also shows incidents published by the national civil protection authority (ANEPC). Official information is always labelled as official, so you can tell it apart from what the satellites see.

How do I contact you?

Write to hi@reykr.eu. For questions about your data, such as access, correction or deletion, write to privacy@reykr.eu.