Satellite before and after

Pantanal fires 2020: the northern Pantanal, Brazil

Fires surged across the Pantanal from July 2020, at the start of the dry season, and burned far more of the wetland than in any previous year satellites had measured.

The northern Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil · July to October 2020 · Wildfire · Brazil

Compare the imagery

Drag the divider, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Left of the divider is 20 Jun 2020, right is 1 Oct 2020, 103 days apart.

The interactive comparison needs JavaScript. Both images are shown below.

In this false-colour view water is dark blue to black, vegetation is bright green, bare ground is tan, freshly burned land is red-brown and cloud is cyan.

The two images

Satellite image of The northern Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil on 20 Jun 2020, before the event, in false colour (MODIS bands 7-2-1).
Before: Terra, 20 Jun 2020 · Open in NASA Worldview · original from GIBS
Satellite image of The northern Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil on 1 Oct 2020, after the event, in false colour (MODIS bands 7-2-1).
After: Terra, 1 Oct 2020 · Open in NASA Worldview · original from GIBS

What the images show

On 20 June the wetland and the land around it are green. On 1 October wide red-brown burn scars cover large parts of the region, most of all north and east of the wetland's central channels.

About the event

  • NASA Earth Observatory reported that by 9 September 2020 fires had charred an estimated 24,000 square kilometres of the Pantanal; the previous record, set in 2005, was 4,600 square kilometres.
  • Many of the fires burned in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, including the municipality of Poconé.

Limits of this comparison

Both images are from the same satellite and layer. Part of the change from green to tan is the dry season, not fire; red-brown is burned ground. Smoke haze softens the 1 October image. The fires went on after this date.

Each image is one satellite pass at about 250 metres a pixel. It shows where water or burned land is visible from space on that day; it does not measure damage, and cloud or haze can hide what is underneath.

Dates were chosen by checking the imagery on both satellites for several days either side and keeping the clearest pass. Both use the same layer, MODIS Corrected Reflectance, bands 7-2-1.

Sources

We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Comparison slider: leaflet-side-by-side (MIT licence). Case last updated 13 Sep 2026.

Questions

What does the satellite image of The northern Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil show?

On 20 June the wetland and the land around it are green. On 1 October wide red-brown burn scars cover large parts of the region, most of all north and east of the wetland's central channels.

When were the two satellite images taken?

The before-image was taken by Terra, 20 Jun 2020 and the after-image by Terra, 1 Oct 2020, 103 days apart.

What can this before-and-after comparison not show?

Both images are from the same satellite and layer. Part of the change from green to tan is the dry season, not fire; red-brown is burned ground. Smoke haze softens the 1 October image. The fires went on after this date. Each image is one satellite pass at about 250 metres a pixel. It shows where water or burned land is visible from space on that day; it does not measure damage, and cloud or haze can hide what is underneath.

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