NASA satellite highlights burn scars in British Columbia

NASA satellite highlights burn scars in British Columbia
Real color image of burn scars in British Columbia. Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC

This past summer Canada has been plagued with huge forest fires that have spanned most of the provinces. British Columbia has been particularly hard hit with large portions of the landscape being decimated by fire.

In these taken by the NASA'S Aqua satellite, both the natural color and false color of left by fires can be seen. In the natural color image it is difficult to make out the burn scars. The false color easily identifies areas where fire has left a scar showing a brownish-red color.

Currently there are 745 wildfires larger than 0.01 hectares and all wildfires of note (active or out) in British Columbia as of today, Sept. 29. (Wildfire link updates daily). NASA's Aqua satellite collected this natural-color image with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, MODIS, instrument on September 27, 2017.

NASA satellite highlights burn scars in British Columbia
Aqua false color image of burn scars in British Columbia. Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC
Citation: NASA satellite highlights burn scars in British Columbia (2017, September 29) retrieved 7 December 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2017-09-nasa-satellite-highlights-scars-british.html
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