NASA Satellite Pictures Capture Wildfires' Breadth
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.24.07
NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have been busily recording the breathtaking scope and speed with which the Southern California wildfires have been spreading over the past few days, abetted in large part by strong, dry Santa Ana winds. The image, which was captured by the Terra satellite yesterday afternoon at 2:25pm EST, shows the area between Los Angeles and San Diego - with fire activity indicated by the red pixels.
According to the most recent report by the National Interagency Fire Center, 12 wildfires have burned over 335,000 acres so far. You can follow the fires' path and get continuous updates on NASA's Looking at Earth website.
Via ::NASA: California Wildfires Continue to Grow: NASA Satellite Images Show Fire’s Immense Size (agency website), ::The Great Beyond: California fires from space (blog)
See also: ::Wildfires Causing Further Deterioration of Southern California's Air Quality, ::Picture worth 1000 Words Dept: Chinese Trawlers
This is breaking my heart. As if Southern California's environment didn't have enough pressures to deal with already. When these fires finish, the whole area will look like it has been nuked.
Of course in a few years time when the underbrush has grown back, there will be even a greater fire risk. Careful management of the land area post fire is well advised.
No it won't. This happens every year. This happens on this scale every few years. The hills will be scorched and black for a few months, the winter rains will come, then plants will start coming back like crazy during the spring, making everything brown and green again.
Remember, in nature this is actually SUPPOSED to happen.
What makes these tragic is that there are too many homes close to these natural areas with very little to seperate them like a fire-break, so we lose homes every time this happens too.
Better technology on the horizon
There is a company in Australia called Telepathx that is trialing cheap wireless fire sensors in conjunction with Google earth maps to create an early wanrning systems for fire fighters, its providing virtual and real time fire monitoring and mapping.
The is totally cool because it uses a stored sat image and incorporates real time fire data.
Evidently as with the current fires in California many fires in Australia are started from faulting power lines, the company is planning on spending billions to develop wireless sensors networks here in the states to moderize our power line networks.
Better technology on the horizon
There is a company in Australia called Telepathx that is trialing cheap wireless fire sensors in conjunction with Google earth maps to create an early wanrning systems for fire fighters, its providing virtual and real time fire monitoring and mapping.
The is totally cool because it uses a stored sat image and incorporates real time fire data.
Evidently as with the current fires in California many fires in Australia are started from faulting power lines, the company is planning on spending billions to develop wireless sensors networks here in the states to moderize our power line networks.
chs: you're right. Nature is nature but if ppl put fire by themselve this is horrible crime.
Brandal Thorpe: Amazing! I am wondering does Google predict such aplication of their "maps".
chs: you're right. Nature is nature but if ppl put fire by themselve this is horrible crime.
Brandal Thorpe: Amazing! I am wondering does Google predict such aplication of their "maps".
I find Virtual Earth a better technology, and I heard that several fire departments too are considering making the Virtual Earth technology a standard thing in warning about fires.
Live Maps does a better justice of showing the wildfires: http://virtualearth.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2BBC66E99FDCDB98!9533.entry
Woah that looks awosome. Is this a sattelite picture?
Woah that looks awosome. Is this a sattelite picture?