3D hexagon mapping / Day 4 · Hexagons

A season of hotspots

2024 California Fire Season

An interactive 3D hexagon map of the satellite fire hotspots detected across California from May to October 2024.

MapLibre
H3 hexagons
deck.gl

Dark 3D map of California with hexagon columns showing satellite fire hotspot detections from May to October 2024 — Map by Jesse Friend. Select the image to explore it at full size.

A closer look

After a historic fire season, I wanted to see how fire detections were spread across the state.

Each hexagon covers about 250 km² and rises with the number of satellite hotspot detections inside it, up to 26,643 in a single cell. I first built the map with deck.gl for the challenge. This interactive version uses MapLibre’s 3D extrusions, with hotspot data from OroraTech.

Explore the map

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Interactive view

Tilt and zoom across the state, point at a hexagon for its count, or switch to a flat view.

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