Images
November 12, 2024 - Burn Scars Come and Go in Australia
November 5, 2024
October 26, 2023
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Each year, large patches of northern Australia are swept by fire. While bushfires are part of the natural ecology of the region, scientists say that they are becoming more frequent and burning more land as heatwaves and drought increase due to climate change. Increasingly frequent and large fires adversely affect biodiversity, vegetation structure, conservation efforts, water and air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, as well as human and livestock health. Timing of the fires can impact these items as well.
According to the Queensland government’s website, using satellite imagery to help understand when and when fires have occurred helps improve future fire planning and management. Mapping burn scars—visibly darkened patches of land left behind after fire scorches vegetation—helps science and land management in many ways. These include understanding impacts of fire on grazing production, monitoring and reporting ecological impacts of fire, managing natural resources, assessing fire hazard and risk, assessing variability in fire regimes over time, developing strategical and operational fire planning, and informing carbon abatement schemes and greenhouse emissions.
Today’s Image of the Day compares two false-color images of burn scars on grasslands of Northern Territory (west) and Queensland, Australia. The first image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on November 5, 2024, and the second was acquired by Aqua MODIS on October 26, 2023. The images are easily compared by clicking on the dates.
In this type of false-color image, vegetation looks green, water is blue, smoke is gray or blue-gray and burn scars may range in color from brick red to brown or black. Burn scar color varies due to completeness of burn, the type of ground exposed, the temperature of the fire, and how recently the area was burnt. As burn scars age, vegetation tends to regrow so older burn scars look lighter and often greener.
Toggling between the two images of the same area reveals the changes in burn scars over time as well as the repeated fire activity in October and November, which is the end of brush fire season. In 2024, a veil of smoke rose from large, dark burn scars in Queensland, illustrating a large area of actively burning fire. Recent but smaller burn scars dot Northern Territory and several pale (older) scars are also seen nearby. Clicking to the 2023 image, it is immediately noted that Queensland looks green with no activity at the site of the large 2024 bushfire. On the other hand, the Northern Territory scars are darker and more recent, including some that appear to be combined with smoke, indicating that they were actively burning.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 11/5/2024
Resolutions:
1km (351.5 KB), 500m (897.8 KB), 250m (1.8 MB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
November 5, 2024 October 26, 2023
Each year, large patches of northern Australia are swept by fire. While bushfires are part of the natural ecology of the region, scientists say that they are becoming more frequent and burning more land as heatwaves and drought increase due to climate change. Increasingly frequent and large fires adversely affect biodiversity, vegetation structure, conservation efforts, water and air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, as well as human and livestock health. Timing of the fires can impact these items as well.
According to the Queensland government’s website, using satellite imagery to help understand when and when fires have occurred helps improve future fire planning and management. Mapping burn scars—visibly darkened patches of land left behind after fire scorches vegetation—helps science and land management in many ways. These include understanding impacts of fire on grazing production, monitoring and reporting ecological impacts of fire, managing natural resources, assessing fire hazard and risk, assessing variability in fire regimes over time, developing strategical and operational fire planning, and informing carbon abatement schemes and greenhouse emissions.
Today’s Image of the Day compares two false-color images of burn scars on grasslands of Northern Territory (west) and Queensland, Australia. The first image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on November 5, 2024, and the second was acquired by Aqua MODIS on October 26, 2023. The images are easily compared by clicking on the dates.
In this type of false-color image, vegetation looks green, water is blue, smoke is gray or blue-gray and burn scars may range in color from brick red to brown or black. Burn scar color varies due to completeness of burn, the type of ground exposed, the temperature of the fire, and how recently the area was burnt. As burn scars age, vegetation tends to regrow so older burn scars look lighter and often greener.
Toggling between the two images of the same area reveals the changes in burn scars over time as well as the repeated fire activity in October and November, which is the end of brush fire season. In 2024, a veil of smoke rose from large, dark burn scars in Queensland, illustrating a large area of actively burning fire. Recent but smaller burn scars dot Northern Territory and several pale (older) scars are also seen nearby. Clicking to the 2023 image, it is immediately noted that Queensland looks green with no activity at the site of the large 2024 bushfire. On the other hand, the Northern Territory scars are darker and more recent, including some that appear to be combined with smoke, indicating that they were actively burning.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 11/5/2024
Resolutions:
1km (351.5 KB), 500m (897.8 KB), 250m (1.8 MB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
