April 23, 2021 - Prescribed Burn in Oregon

    Follow @NASA_MODIS

   Prescribed Burn
    Tweet
    Share

   On April 21, 2021, a large plume of smoke rose from a fire in Deschutes
   National Forest, Oregon. The Moderate Resolution Imaging
   Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this
   true-color image of the scene on that same day.

   The thick gray ribbon of smoke stretched southwest from the National
   Forest almost to Crater Lake, a distance of roughly 55 miles (90 km).
   Several smaller fires also burned in the forested lands both east and
   west of the snow-capped Cascades Mountains and can be seen as bright
   red “hot spots”. Each hot spot marks an area where the thermal bands on
   the MODIS instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with
   smoke, such hotspots mark actively burning fire.

   While it is not possible to determine the cause of a fire by satellite
   imagery alone, the time of year, location, and public notifications
   confirm that these fires are prescribed burns. Each spring forest
   managers in the Pacific Northwest carefully plan, ignite, and control
   fires designed to reduce fuel loads and improve wildlands.

   According to the USDA Forest Service, burning was taking place in
   Deschutes National Forest on April 21 and 22 approximately five miles
   east of La Pine. Their notification states, “Fuels specialists will
   underburn approximately 600 acres along the north side of Forest
   Service Road (FSR) 22 (Finley Butte Road), between FSR 9750 and FSR
   2215. The objective of this prescribed burn is to reduce fuel loadings
   in ponderosa pine stands that have been treated as part of the Ogden
   Landscape Vegetation Management Project. This will allow fires to burn
   with less intensity and reduce potential impacts of wildfire coming
   into the La Pine community.”

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 4/21/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (33.4 KB),  500m (117.6 KB),  250m (376.2
   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=2021-04-23
 
