NASA’s Terra satellite captures this image of the burn scars from both the LNU Lightning Fire Complex and the SCU Lightning Fire Complex in California on August 26, 2020. Photo credit: NASA
On August 26, 2020 NASAThe Terra satellite was able to map the two areas in California where the fires were most active and use the false color reflective tapes from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Infrared Spectroradiometer) instrument on board. Using these tapes, the burned areas or areas affected by fire are marked by deposits of charcoal and ash, removal of vegetation and / or alteration of the vegetation structure. As bare ground is exposed, the brightness in Band 1 can increase, but this can be offset by the presence of black carbon residue. The near infrared (band 2) becomes darker and band 7 becomes more reflective. When band 7 is assigned to red in the image, burn scars will appear deep or light red depending on the type of vegetation burned, the amount of residue, or the completeness of the burn. The ribbons are colored as such: red = ribbon 7, green = ribbon 2, blue = ribbon 1.
The burn scar of the LNU Lightning Complex is measured with the measurement tool of the Worldview application. Photo credit: NASA Worldview
The LNU Lightning Complex (Lake Napa Unit) fire is located near the Napa Valley in Northern California, and the SCU Lightning Complex (Santa Clara Unit) fire is also located near Santa Clara, Northern California. Both fires began during a particularly large number of light strikes from thunderstorms on August 17th and 18th. The measurement tool in the Worldview application can measure distances in miles and kilometers as well as square miles. This tool was used to show the square miles burned so far in both the LNU and SCU Lightning complexes, using the colors of the reflective tape to outline and measure the burn scars.
The LNU Lightning complex fire is 33 percent included on the CAL Fire website on August 27th. With the Worldview measurement tool, the fire is approximately 583.11 square miles compared to the satellite image captured on Aug. 26. The SCU Lightning complex fire, the CAL Fire reports, which are 35 percent contained, are approximately 666.47 square miles from the satellite image captured on Aug. 16. The SCU fire burned 368,671 acres and the LNU fire burned 368,868 acres on August 27, according to the CAL fire website. These two complexes go on to be the second and third largest fire in California history. Only the 2018 Mendocino Complex fire was larger at 459,123 acres. With the exception of two fires (2007 and 1932), the ten largest fires in California history have all occurred in the past decade.
The burn scar of the SCU Lightning Complex is measured with the measuring tool of the Worldview application. Photo credit: NASA Worldview
NASA’s satellite instruments are often the first to detect forest fires burning in remote areas, and the locations of new fires are sent direct to land managers worldwide within hours of the satellite transfer. Together, NASA instruments actively detect burning fires, track smoke transport from fires, provide information for fire management, and map the extent of changes to ecosystems based on the extent and severity of burn scars.
NASA’s Worldview application EOSDIS (Earth Observing System Data and Information System) offers the possibility of interactively searching over 700 global satellite image planes with full resolution and then downloading the underlying data. Many of the available image planes are updated within three hours of observation and essentially show the entire earth as it looks “right now”. Actively burning fires that are detected by heat tapes are displayed as red dots. Images courtesy of NASA Worldview, Earth Observation System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
