Images
August 26, 2010 - Fires and smoke in British Columbia
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Multiple red hotspots accompanied by thick streams of billowing gray smoke mark hundreds of wildfires which continue to rage across British Columbia, Canada. On August 16, 2010, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image as it passed overhead, strong winds carried smoke plumes due east to join with the blanket of gray haze covering the region.
A thin haze can be seen to cover the city of Vancouver, which lies on the east of Strait of Georgia and north of the state of Washington, U.S.A. Although Vancouver Island, due west of the city, appears relatively clear, on the day the image was captured the Ministry of Environment officials issued an air advisory to parts of Vancouver Island, as well as the metropolitan area, due to smoke drifting southwestward from the fires.
A circular cluster of red hotspots can be seen in the center of the image. This marks some of the older fires in the Cariboo region, which were first found on July 28, 2010 and continue to burn, despite massive containment efforts. To the north and west are larger hotspots with thicker plumes. These fires burn in such areas as the Corkscrew Basin (Itcha Ilgathchuz Park) and Tweedsmuir Park. Some of these fires were found as recently as August 13, 2010.
On August 24, the British Columbia Wildfire Management Branch reported that 1,519 wildfires have ignited since April 1 of this year, with 306,612 hectares burned. Just four months into the fire year (April 1 – March 31), the average number of fires has reached over three-quarters the average annual fire count of 2,000. New fires are still starting – seven were found on August 23. Of those new fires, three were caused by lightning and four by humans.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/16/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Multiple red hotspots accompanied by thick streams of billowing gray smoke mark hundreds of wildfires which continue to rage across British Columbia, Canada. On August 16, 2010, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image as it passed overhead, strong winds carried smoke plumes due east to join with the blanket of gray haze covering the region.
A thin haze can be seen to cover the city of Vancouver, which lies on the east of Strait of Georgia and north of the state of Washington, U.S.A. Although Vancouver Island, due west of the city, appears relatively clear, on the day the image was captured the Ministry of Environment officials issued an air advisory to parts of Vancouver Island, as well as the metropolitan area, due to smoke drifting southwestward from the fires.
A circular cluster of red hotspots can be seen in the center of the image. This marks some of the older fires in the Cariboo region, which were first found on July 28, 2010 and continue to burn, despite massive containment efforts. To the north and west are larger hotspots with thicker plumes. These fires burn in such areas as the Corkscrew Basin (Itcha Ilgathchuz Park) and Tweedsmuir Park. Some of these fires were found as recently as August 13, 2010.
On August 24, the British Columbia Wildfire Management Branch reported that 1,519 wildfires have ignited since April 1 of this year, with 306,612 hectares burned. Just four months into the fire year (April 1 – March 31), the average number of fires has reached over three-quarters the average annual fire count of 2,000. New fires are still starting – seven were found on August 23. Of those new fires, three were caused by lightning and four by humans.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/16/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
