August 28, 2020 - Burn Scars in California,

    Follow @NASA_MODIS

   Burn Scars in California
    Tweet
    Share

   Record-breaking heat along with significant drought conditions set the
   stage for an extremely severe fire season in California this year. When
   a “lightning siege” in mid-August brought nearly 12,000 lightning
   strikes in a week, tinder-dry vegetation ignited across the state,
   giving rise to some of the largest fires in the state’s history.

   The title of the largest fire on record remains with the Mendocino
   Complex Fire, which burned 459,123 acres in July of 2018. Second and
   third place have been taken by this year’s LNU Lightning Complex and
   the SCU Lightning Complex, which have charred 368,868 acres and 368,671
   acres, respectively. As of August 27, they were both still burning,
   with each about 33 percent contained.

   On August 26, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image
   that highlighted the vast expanse of the burn scars of both the LNU and
   the SCU Lightning Complex. The false-color image uses a combination of
   visible and infrared light (MODIS bands 7,2,1) to better show the burn
   scars through the smoke. Burned vegetation (the burn scar) appears
   brown and unburned vegetation appears bright green.

   While this single false-color image gives a clear visualization of the
   burn scar, sometimes viewing comparison images can illustrate the
   changes that have occurred over time. Thanks to the NASA Worldview app,
   a stunning roll-over comparison of MODIS images from the Terra
   satellite can be viewed  HERE The two false-color images were
   acquired on August 26 and on August 15, the day before the Lightning
   Siege began.

   Since August 17, 2020, wildfires have burned through more than 1
   million acres (4,000 square kilometers), destroyed around 2,000
   structures, and caused at least seven deaths. The LNU Lightning Complex
   is burning near Santa Rosa (north) and the SCU Lightning Complex sits
   near San Jose (south). According to Cal Fire, 21 major fires (more than
   100 acres) continue to burn across California.

   The NASA Worldview app provides a satellite's perspective of the planet
   as it looks today and as it has in the past through daily satellite
   images. Worldview is part of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and
   Information System. EOSDIS makes the agency's large repository of data
   accessible and freely available to the public.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 8/26/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (31.1 KB),  500m (112.5 KB),  250m (194.3
   KB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-08-28
 
