NASA’s Terra Satellite Images California’s Kincade Fire Burn Scar From Space

Thousands of acres damaged by the ongoing Kincade Fire in Northern California’s Sonoma County are visible in this new image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. The image was taken at 11:01 a.m. PST (2:01 p.m. EST)

Thousands of acres damaged by the ongoing Kincade Fire in Northern California’s Sonoma County are visible in this new image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. The image was taken at 11:01 a. m. PST (2:01 p. m. EST) on November 3, 2019. The burned area appears dark gray in ASTER’s visible channels. Hotspots, where the fire is still smoldering, appear as yellow dots in ASTER’s heat-sensing, thermal infrared channels.


Video advice: Image of the Week – Fires Across California

Fires burned across California in late 2019. Fall is the state’s most dangerous season for wildfires, propelled by dry and windy conditions. In recent years however, the fall fire season has been starting earlier and ending later. A series of images from the MODIS sensor on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites show the Kincade Fire in northern California. This fire started on October 23rd. By the end of the month it had burned over 77,000 acres. A strong wind from the northeast is evident as smoke billows from the fire toward the Pacific Ocean. The European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites captured more detailed images. The fire burned some areas already hit two years ago by the Tubbs Fire. Strong winds created small isolated fires seen as a pattern of hotspots in the images. As the Kincade Fire burned in the north, several fires hit the Los Angeles area. A Landsat 8 image from November 6th shows scars of the Saddle Ridge, Getty, Tick, Easy, and Maria Fires. The Maria Fire was the largest in this region. It burned nearly 10,000 acres in just 6 days. Data from these three satellite systems complement each other to provide a complete picture of wildfires statewide.


Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

“MODIS” redirects here. For the singular, see Modi. For other uses, see Modis.

MODIS utilizes four on-board calibrators additionally towards the space view to be able to provide in-flight calibration: solar diffuser (SD), solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM), spectral radiometric calibration set up (SRCA), along with a v-groove black body. MODIS has utilized the marine optical buoy for vicarious calibration.

The MODIS instruments were built by Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. They capture data in 36 spectral bands ranging in wavelength from 0. 4 μm to 14. 4 μm and at varying spatial resolutions (2 bands at 250 m, 5 bands at 500 m and 29 bands at 1 km). Together the instruments image the entire Earth every 1 to 2 days. They are designed to provide measurements in large-scale global dynamics including changes in Earth’s cloud cover, radiation budget and processes occurring in the oceans, on land, and in the lower atmosphere.

Satellite image shows Kincade fire burn scar

The massive burn scar from Sonoma County’s Kincade fire can be seen from space. An image taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite on Sunday shows a checkerboard of charred land. The dark gray splotches are burned areas, and the yellow dots are hot spots where the fire is still smoldering.

The blaze has burned 77,758 acres and destroyed 374 structures because it started March. 23. It had been 84% contained by Tuesday morning. Investigators haven’t determined what began the fireplace, but Off-shore Gas & Electric has stated that transmission lines experienced problems round the area in which the fire started. The composite that shows the burn scar was produced by superimposing thermal infrared channels, which show heat, onto a picture from the area that’s much like what you’d see using the human eye alone, stated Michael J. Abrams, a NASA investigator and U.S. leader from the ASTER project. Satellite images such as these might help officials decide how to deal with removal as a direct consequence of the destructive blaze. “After a fireplace burns, those who are in control — let’s say, the Forest Service — they have to know, is definitely an area just slightly burned, where trees will recover and secondary plant life can come up alone?” Abrams stated. “Or in the other extreme, temperatures could possibly get so hot the floor is baked and becomes nonpermeable so rainwater can’t enter, and it’s very hard for items to start growing.


Video advice: California’s Kincade Fire has a huge burn scar that can be seen from space

The scope of the damage from California’s Kincade Fire can be seen from space in a disturbing new satellite image. The newly released image was taken on Sunday by NASA’s Terra satellite, according to the space agency’s press release. That satellite is equipped with a special instrument that harnesses thermal infrared channels to detect heat on the Earth’s surface. The dark grey shows burnt areas, and the yellow dots show smoldering fires, according to NASA. The town of Healdsburg is seen in the center of the image. The…


California’s Kincade Fire Burn Scar Seen From Space

The extent of the damage wrought by the Northern Californian wildfire was imaged by NASA’s ASTER instrument aboard the Terra satellite.

A large number of acres broken through the ongoing Kincade Fire in Northern California’s Sonoma County may be seen in this latest image in the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. The look was taken at 11:01 a. m. PST (2:01 p. m. EST) on November. 3, 2019. The burned area seems dark grey in ASTER’s visible channels. Hotspots, in which the fire continues to be smoldering, appear as yellow dots in ASTER’s heat-sensing, thermal infrared channels.


Video advice: This is What Wildfires Look Like from Space

Satellites have captured images the wildfires currently devastating California. The Camp fire is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state’s history. Meanwhile, the Woolsey and Hill fires are raging in southern California. The size and destructiveness of the blazes can be seen by NASA satellites.


[FAQ]

Where is the LNU burn scar?

LNU Lightning Complex fires

The Hennessey and Spanish Fires burn towards Lake Berryessa on August 18, 2020.

Location

Northern CaliforniaColusaLakeNapaSonomaSolanoYolo

Statistics

Total fires

250

What started the Kincade Fire in california?

A CalFire investigation determined the Kincade Fire was caused on Oct. 23, 2019, when a jumper cable on a PG&E transmission tower at its Geysers Geothermal Field northeast of Geyserville "that broke in high winds, fell and arced against the tower.

What burned in the Kincade Fire?

The Kincade Fire was a wildfire that burned in Sonoma County, California in the United States....

Kincade Fire

Burned area

77,758 acres (31,468 ha)

Cause

electrical transmission lines located northeast of Geyserville owned and operated by PG&E

What are burn scars in California?

In “burn scars,” where fires decimated forest systems that held soil in place, an increase in droughts followed by heavy rainfall poses a different kind of threat to the water supplies that are essential to the health of communities.

How big is the Hennessey Fire?

317,909 acresCal Fire said 439 structures of all types have been destroyed in Napa County by the Hennessey Fire, which started from lightning strikes in Napa on Aug. 17 and grew to 317,909 acres across five counties.

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