Images
July 3, 2018 - Moorland Fires in England
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The expansive moors of England can stir the imagination and heart, as evidence by the supernatural, mystical, and dangerous beauty invoked as the setting for the novel “Wuthering Heights”. Moorlands provide more than a stirring fictional background, however. These flowery shrub-and-grasslands provide homes for a large number of small mammals, insects, and birds as well as recreational reserves for beauty-hunting tourists.
According to the BBC’s Nature website, moorlands are upland areas with acidic, low-nutrient and often water-logged soils. The cold, windy and wet conditions typical of moors allow heather to dominate, growing on a deep layer of peat. Between 10 and 15 percent of the world’s moorland is found in the United Kingdom, typically in areas with high precipitation.
England’s weather conditions in late spring and early summer, 2018, have been difficult for moorland. A heatwave combined with strong wind have reduced water in the marshy lowlands while drying the vegetation in the uplands. Fire danger is high in many locations where the moor has become tinder-box dry.
Indeed, many fires have ignited across the moorland in June. These include fires on Winter Hill and on Scout Road about 12 miles north of Manchester. By June 28 these fires had merged into a single large fire. A large fire also burned in Saddleworth Moor between Manchester and Yorkshire. Reuters reported at least 7 additional fires burning in the moors near Manchester as of June 30.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over England on June 30 and acquired a true-color image of the region. A number of fires, marked in red, can be seen in the green moorlands. A large plume of dark gray smoke pours from the massive Saddleworth Moor fire, which began on June 24. As of July 1 the fire continued to burn but was no longer spreading.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 6/30/2018
Resolutions:
1km (157.2 KB), 500m (420.4 KB), 250m (334.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The expansive moors of England can stir the imagination and heart, as evidence by the supernatural, mystical, and dangerous beauty invoked as the setting for the novel “Wuthering Heights”. Moorlands provide more than a stirring fictional background, however. These flowery shrub-and-grasslands provide homes for a large number of small mammals, insects, and birds as well as recreational reserves for beauty-hunting tourists.
According to the BBC’s Nature website, moorlands are upland areas with acidic, low-nutrient and often water-logged soils. The cold, windy and wet conditions typical of moors allow heather to dominate, growing on a deep layer of peat. Between 10 and 15 percent of the world’s moorland is found in the United Kingdom, typically in areas with high precipitation.
England’s weather conditions in late spring and early summer, 2018, have been difficult for moorland. A heatwave combined with strong wind have reduced water in the marshy lowlands while drying the vegetation in the uplands. Fire danger is high in many locations where the moor has become tinder-box dry.
Indeed, many fires have ignited across the moorland in June. These include fires on Winter Hill and on Scout Road about 12 miles north of Manchester. By June 28 these fires had merged into a single large fire. A large fire also burned in Saddleworth Moor between Manchester and Yorkshire. Reuters reported at least 7 additional fires burning in the moors near Manchester as of June 30.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over England on June 30 and acquired a true-color image of the region. A number of fires, marked in red, can be seen in the green moorlands. A large plume of dark gray smoke pours from the massive Saddleworth Moor fire, which began on June 24. As of July 1 the fire continued to burn but was no longer spreading.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 6/30/2018
Resolutions:
1km (157.2 KB), 500m (420.4 KB), 250m (334.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
