EMBER — User Guide & Feature Manual
In-depth reference guide covering every control, audio synthesizer, WAV audio export, scrubber animation, metric card, and spatial radar feature on the dashboard.
1. Top Dashboard Controls Bar & WAV Export
The top bar controls country dataset selection, timeline playback state, and offline high-definition WAV sonification export.
Select Country Boundary
Dropdown menu supporting 19 global country boundaries (UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Greece, Portugal, China, Russia, India, Brazil, Turkey).
Loop Timeline Switch
Checkbox toggle. When enabled, timeline playback automatically restarts at Day 1 after reaching Day 90.
Start Audio / Play Button
Primary action button. Initializes/resumes the Web Audio API context and starts automated timeline step playback.
Export WAV Button
Renders the entire 90-day time-lapse offline into a 16-bit PCM .wav file with a live glassmorphic 0% to 100% progress modal overlay.
2. 90-Day Fire Density Trend & Scrubber
Panel 2 provides an interactive 90-day timeline visualization of daily satellite wildfire activity with ambient rising ember particle physics.
Date & Step Display
Displays the active calendar date (e.g., 2026-07-28) and day step index (Day 14 of 90).
90-Day Total Badge
Sum of all satellite detection points recorded across the entire 90-day time-lapse period.
Interactive Scrubber & Embers
Click anywhere on the histogram to scrub days. Features background rising fire embers with dynamic acoustic reactivity!
normDensity^2.5 curve. On low severity days, 80% of embers are hidden for a serene smolder baseline, while extreme fire days flare up into a thick stream of glowing embers!
3. Audio Mixer & Sound Layer Controls
The audio engine synthesizes 5 sound layers routed through a master Brickwall Peak Limiter (-1.5 dBFS) and a 3.2s Convolution Hall Reverb.
Master Audio Bar
Lead Sound Preset
Select from 5 synthesizers: Ember Strike (FM Bell), Blazing Thermite (PWM Square), Thermal Whistle (High-Q Bandpass), Molten Shimmer (FM), and Ethereal Flame (Theremin).
Playback Speed
Controls step playback speed: Slow (1200ms), Normal (800ms / 0.6x), or Fast (400ms).
Global Volume Slider
Master gain slider and percentage badge (0% to 100%) controlling overall output level.
5 Channel Mixer Strips
- Lead Synth: Pitch-mapped lead oscillator following daily fire density (`110 Hz` to `1760 Hz`). Features individual volume slider & Active/Mute toggle.
- Thermal Pad: Warm dual-oscillator detuned pad providing ambient chordal harmonics (`164 Hz` to `440 Hz`). Features individual volume slider & Active/Mute toggle.
- Earth Bass: Sub-bass triangle smolder rumble (`55 Hz` to `130 Hz`). Features individual volume slider & Active/Mute toggle.
- Flame Wind: Dynamic white noise bandpass filter sweep (`350 Hz` to `4800 Hz`) modulated by a breathing LFO. Features individual volume slider & Active/Mute toggle.
- Ember Sparks: Organic spatial wood crackles panned across the stereo soundfield (West = Left, East = Right). Features individual volume slider & Active/Mute toggle.
4. Daily Fire Severity & Audio Engine Status
Positioned directly below the 90-day timeline scrubber, the severity status bar provides real-time status updates.
Daily Fire Severity Badge
Categorizes daily activity into 4 dynamic severity ratings: LOW / SMOLDER, MODERATE, HIGH SEVERITY, or EXTREME WILDFIRE.
Audio Engine Indicator
Live status dot and readout displaying whether the Web Audio API synthesizer is active or paused.
Non-Linear Volume Alignment
Severity categories scale 1:1 with the audio engine's non-linear volume crescendo curve.
5. Summary Metric Cards & Hotspot Breakdown Table
Detailed numeric metrics and hotspot-level spatial breakdown for the active day.
Daily Hotspot Count
Total satellite fire detection points recorded on the selected calendar day.
Peak Fire Power (FRP)
Maximum Fire Radiative Power value recorded on that day, measured in Megawatts (MW).
Normalized Density
Ratio of current daily fire points compared to the 90-day maximum peak (0.00 to 1.00).
Active Day Hotspot Breakdown Table
Scrollable table listing every satellite detection point on the selected day with 4 detailed data columns:
- #: Hotspot index number.
- Stereo Pan: Geographic stereo position (e.g.
42% L,Center,68% R). - Fire Radiative Power (FRP): Raw FRP output in Megawatts (MW).
- Intensity Ratio: Percentage value (
85%) and color-gradient progress track bar.
Export CSV button next to the Active Day Hotspot Breakdown header to download a complete spreadsheet report containing country metadata, summary metrics, severity ratings, and hotspot-by-hotspot spatial coordinates for the selected calendar day.
6. Automated Pipeline & Build Credits
The dashboard is powered by a serverless automated architecture. A GitHub Action workflow runs every day at 06:00 UTC to query NASA's VIIRS NRT satellite API, execute GeoPandas point-in-polygon filtering, and update public/data.json.
2026-07-28 07:37 UTC) along with links to NASA FIRMS.
7. Read More: Wildfire Science & Satellite Earth Observation
Explore authoritative scientific research, open satellite data portals, and educational resources on global wildfire dynamics and environmental data sonification.
🔥 NASA FIRMS System
NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System delivers global thermal anomalies and active fire locations within 3 hours of satellite overpass from MODIS and VIIRS sensors.
Visit NASA FIRMS Portal →🛰️ NASA Earth Observatory
In-depth feature articles, satellite imagery, and scientific analysis detailing how drought, land management, and vegetation moisture drive global wildfire behavior.
Explore Earth Observatory →🌲 Global Forest Watch
An interactive open-source web platform providing real-time forest monitoring, tree cover loss metrics, fire alert spatial analysis, and deforestation trends.
Open Forest Watch Map →🌡️ IPCC Climate & Land Report
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report detailing climate change, desertification, land degradation, and expanding fire season length.
Read IPCC Special Report →🎵 Data Sonification Science
Learn how translating complex multi-dimensional environmental data into acoustic parameters (frequency, panning, gain, timbre) unlocks human pattern recognition.
Read Sonification Handbook →🌍 Copernicus Emergency Service
European Union Earth Observation satellite program delivering real-time wildfire mapping, burnt area assessments, and disaster management analytics.
Visit Copernicus EMS →