A hotspot is a mark on an infrared satellite image indicating a heat source typical of burning vegetation. A hotspot may represent one fire or be one of several hotspots representing a larger fire. Hotspots are located and mapped as part of the Fire Monitoring, Mapping and Modeling System (Fire M3), which is a component of a national fire information system that identifies, monitors and maps large forest fires using the hotspots. The Atlas of Canada has mapped each year from 2001 to 2009 the forest fire hotspots in partnership with the Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada. Only the forest fire hotspots for the last recorded day of forest fire activity for the year 2009 have been archived. The original data from 2001 to 2009 are available from the Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada.