August 26, 2020. (Click the image for a high resolution view.)
After more than a week, the seemingly relentless forest fires in Northern California seemed to be subsiding and being better controlled, thanks to lighter winds, lower air temperatures, and additional fire-fighting assistance to aid the California crews. Even so, the fires left large scars on the landscape.
August 26, 2020. (Click the image for a high resolution view.)
The images above show burn scars from the two largest flames in the so-called August Lightning Siege of 2020, when lightning strikes ignited hundreds of forest fires in Northern California. The images were taken on August 26th with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NASATerra satellite. Red markings stand for “fire detections” or pixels where the sensor and a computer algorithm indicated that there was an active fire. The false color image uses a combination of visible and infrared light (MODIS bands 7,2,1) to better represent the burn scars caused by the smoke. Burned vegetation appears brown and unburned vegetation appears light green.
Since August 17, 2020, forest fires have burned more than 4,000 square kilometers, destroyed around 2,000 buildings and caused at least seven deaths. The LNU lightning complex near Santa Rosa and the SCU lightning complex near San Jose had each burned more than 140,000 square kilometers on August 27. This made them the second and third largest areas in the state’s history. Both fires were around 33 percent included.
August 25, 2020. (Click the image for a high resolution view.)
Wildfire smoke has significantly worsened air quality in Northern California and is spreading to central and eastern parts of North America. Citizens reported cloudy skies in North Dakota, Indiana, and even Virginia. Forest fire smoke is particularly harmful as it contains particulate matter that can cause breathing and lung problems, especially for people with asthma.
The map above shows the concentration of soot particles – commonly referred to as soot – on August 25th. Soot can harm humans and other animals by getting into the lungs and bloodstream. it also plays a role in global warming. The Black Carbon Map comes from the GEOS Forward Processing Model (GEOS-FP), which records data from satellite, aircraft and ground observation systems. In this case, GEOS-FP assimilated fire and aerosol observations with meteorological data on air temperature, humidity and wind in order to project the behavior and expansion of the cloud.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin and Joshua Stevens using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS / LANCE and GIBS / Worldview, and GEOS-5 data from NASA GSFC’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office.
