September 20, 2021 - West Coast Burn Scars

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Burn Scars
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Severe drought, high temperatures, and strong winds sparked a brutal
fire season in the Western United States that has threatened many
lives, homes, businesses, and natural treasures, including giant and
ancient sequoia trees within Sequoia National Park, California. CALFIRE
reports that as of September 19, 2021, there have been 7,552 fires in
the state this year, with 2,318,591 acres burnt. That’s more than twice
the 5-year average for acres burnt but remains lower than the
record-setting 2020 fire season, which saw 8,256 fires claim a total of
3,553,132 acres of land. According to the Oregon Department of
Forestry, there have been 1,061 fires recorded in Oregon in 2021, with
about 224,283 acres burnt.

On September 16 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image of
massive burn scars across Northern California and southern Oregon. In
false-color images that use visible and near infrared light (bands
7,2,1 on the MODIS instrument), vegetation appears bright green, open
land appears tan and fire scars appear may appear black, brown, or
brick-red. The color variation in burn scars depends on type of
vegetation burned, the completeness of the burn, the amount of residue
remaining after the burn, and the age of the burn.

In this image, the brick-red burn scars in eastern Oregon and
California mark massive fires that burned this year or are still
burning. This includes, from north to south: the Cougar Peak Fire in
Oregon that began September 7, has scorched more than 89,000 acres,
destroyed structures, and injured six people; a complex in California
that includes the Dixie Fire, the Evans Fire, and the Beckwourth
Complex; and the Caldor Fire southwest of Lake Tahoe. The Dixie Fire
has consumed 963,195 acres since it began on July 13, making it the
second-largest fire in California’s history.

While this one image gives a striking and sobering view of the
devastation created by a few of the Western wildfires this year,
comparing two views of the same area can give a better idea of change
over time. Thanks to the NASA Worldview app, it’s easy to see two
images captured by the Terra MODIS on two different days. To see the
roll-over comparison of this area between May 10, 2021, when fire
season had barely begun and this image acquired on September 16, click
here. It is interesting to note that several burn scars near the
West Coast appear to become smaller through the year, indicating that
they were from older fires and vegetation is returning to those sites.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 9/16/2021
Resolutions: 1km (623.2 KB), 500m (1.4 MB), 250m (917.6 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-09-20

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