• MODIS Pic of the Day 23 May 2022

    From Dan Richter@1:317/3 to All on Monday, May 23, 2022 12:00:30
    May 23, 2022 - Burn Scar in New Mexico

    Burn Scar in New Mexico
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    A fierce fire season has been scorching parts of the Southwestern
    United States since April 2022 and leaving behind large scars on the
    landscape. On May 19, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging
    Spectroradiometer on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a
    false-color image of burn scars left by three fires in northern New
    Mexico, including the largest fire ever recorded in that state.

    This type of false-color image uses visible and near-infrared light
    (bands 7,2,1) to highlight areas where fire has destroyed vegetation
    and charred land. Burn scars can appear black, brown, or brick red in
    this type of image while vegetation appears bright green, open land
    looks tan tan, deep water is colored deep blue, and clouds may appear
    either white or tinted with electric blue. 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. Light orange indicates actively burning areas.

    The largest burn scar marks the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire, which
    has become the largest fire in New Mexico’s history. It began as two
    separate fires. The Calf Canyon fire ignited on April 19, and the cause
    is under investigation. On April 6, the Hermits Peak fire began as a
    prescribed burn in part of the Sant Fe National Forest, but erratic,
    gusty winds blew it out of control. Strong winds on April 22-23 pushed
    the fire through steep terrain and caused a merger with the Calf Canyon
    fire, creating a fire complex. On May 2, the fire complex had scorched
    120,653 acres. Five days later, with reports of the flames spreading as
    fast as 50 miles per hour, the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire become the
    second-largest fire in New Mexico’s history, stretching over 170,665
    acres. Soon the rapidly-spreading fire surpassed the Whitewater-Baldy
    complex Fire—a massive inferno that destroyed 297,845 acres in the Gila
    National Forest in 2012—to capture the record as the largest fire. As
    of May 22, the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire has burned 310,253 acres
    and was only 40 percent contained. This is more than double the size of
    Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city. Over the last two days the
    temperatures have decreased and humidity increased, giving some slight
    assistance to firefighting on this blaze, but it is still extremely
    active.

    The other burn scars are the Cerro Pelado Fire, to the west of Calf
    Canyon/Hermits Peak fire and the Cooks Peak Fire, to the northeast. The
    Cerro Pelado Fire was first reported on April 22 in timber and brush in
    the Santa Fe National Forest. On May 22, this fire had burned 45,605
    acres and the 594 personnel working the fire had helped bring it to 85
    percent containment. The Cooks Peak Fire ignited on April 17 from human
    activity and the cause is under investigation. It burned 59,379 acres
    and was fully contained on May 13.

    While this single image shows dramatic burn scars from truly massive
    fires, to understand the expansion over time it is helpful to compare
    two images acquired on two different days. Thanks to the NASA Worldview
    App, a roll-over comparison of MODIS false-color images of northern New
    Mexico acquired on May 3, 2022, and this one, acquired on May 19 can be
    found here.

    NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)
    Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse
    over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then
    download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are
    updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the
    entire Earth as it looks "right now".

    Image Facts
    Satellite: Terra
    Date Acquired: 5/19/2022
    Resolutions: 1km (141.4 KB), 500m (310.5 KB), 250m (151.6
    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=2022-05-23

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