December 14, 2020 - Fires in the Ouchita Mountains

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   Fires in the Ouchita Mountains
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   Several fires were burning in Ouachita Mountains in early December
   2020. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on
   board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of smoke and
   fire on December 10.

   Each red “hot spot” marks an area where the thermal band on the MODIS
   instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with typical
   smoke, as in this image, such hot spots mark actively burning fire. Hot
   spots can be seen in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma.
   Oklahoma sits in the upper left section of the image and Arkansas in
   the upper right. Copious smoke rises from two large hot spots in
   Oklahoma while smaller amounts of smoke (easily visible in the high
   resolution 250 km image) also rise from the smaller fires in both
   states. Most of these fires are located in the Ouachita National
   Forest, a large expanse of forest that covers more than 1.8 million
   acres of land across Arkansas and Oklahoma.

   While it is not possible to know the cause of a blaze from a satellite
   image, given the location and time of year suggest that these are
   prescribed burns. Forest managers use fire as a tool to help renew and
   restore forest, to reduce fuel loads, to prevent the risk of
   destructive wildfire, and to improve habitat. Prescribed burns are key
   tools in restoration and management of native stands of southern pines
   in the southern United States.

   In the Ouachita Mountains, fire is widely used to restore habitat for
   the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker – a bird that needs open
   pinelands to survive. This cardinal-sized woodpecker was once commonly
   found in open pine forests from southern New Jersey to eastern Texas.
   When longleaf pine forests measured 90 million acres, they supported an
   estimated population of 1 to 1.6 million nesting groups (parent birds
   and young that stay to help raise the next hatch). As pine forests were
   decimated for wood and turpentine, the red-cockaded numbers tumbled.
   Despite years of intense restorative effort, today populations hover at
   only about 14,000 birds. Restoration of this species isn’t just for the
   birds, however — the birds play a vital role in the entire southern
   pine ecosystem. The red-cockaded woodpecker drills nest holes in living
   trees, a job that may take an individual bird from one to six years.
   Such “primary” cavity nesters are rare, but many “secondary” cavity
   nesters depend on abandoned woodpecker holes to survive. According to
   the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at least 27 species of vertebrates
   have been documented using red-cockaded woodpecker cavities, either for
   roosting or nesting. Species include insects, birds, snakes, lizards,
   squirrels, and frogs.

   On December 10, the US Forest Service – Ouachita National Forest posted
   notice for the following prescribed burns on their Facebook page:
   “Poteau-Cold Springs District is burning 7 stands for a total of 186
   acres in Scott County near Waldron. The Jessieville-Winona-Fourche
   District is conducting a small burn of 85 acres near Danville in Yell
   County. Mena-Oden is burning 198 acres for the Washita Site Preps in
   Montgomery County near Washita. And the Oklahoma District burn is the
   Buck Creek burn in McCurtain County; this 690-acre burn is close to
   Smithville.”

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 12/10/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (35.1 KB),  500m (147.5 KB),  250m (517 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=2020-12-14
 
