Kharg Island Refinery VIIRS Nightfire Temporal Profiles

Kharg Island Refinery VIIRS Nightfire Temporal Profiles

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PAYNE INSTITUTE COMMENTARY SERIES: COMMENTARY

By Christopher Elvidge

April 1, 2026

Summary

  • There are VNF detection flares at three refineries on Iran’s Kharg Island
  • The northern site (5694) has stayed largely steady since the war started on February 28.
  • The site in the southwest (5425) has remained active, but had a dramatic increase in the source size of the flaring.
  • The site in the southeast (5702) went out for 11 days when the war began. It has only been detected five times during March 2026.
  • EOG updates the nightly profiles every Monday, making it possible to monitor these and other sites across the was theatre.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christopher Elvidge, Senior Research Associate, Director of Earth Observation Group
Christopher D. Elvidge has decades of experience with satellite low-light imaging data, starting in 1994. He pioneered nighttime satellite observation on visible lights, heat sources including gas flares and wildfires, as well as bright lit fishing vessels. He led the development of these nighttime remote sensed products with images from DMSP, JPSS, and Landsat satellites. These data are very popular and used globally in both public and private sectors. As of February 2018, he has more than 11,000 scholarly publication citations.

ABOUT THE PAYNE INSTITUTE

The mission of the Payne Institute at Colorado School of Mines is to provide world-class scientific insights, helping to inform and shape public policy on earth resources, energy, and environment. The Institute was established with an endowment from Jim and Arlene Payne and seeks to link the strong scientific and engineering research and expertise at Mines with issues related to public policy and national security.

The Payne Institute Commentary Series offers independent insights and research on a wide range of topics related to energy, natural resources, and environmental policy. The series accommodates three categories namely: Viewpoints, Essays, and Working Papers.

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DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or official policies of the Payne Institute or the Colorado School of Mines.