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March 8, 2022 - Fires in South Korea
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Amid dry weather and strong winds, thousands of firefighters raced to put out fires that burned through forests in coastal South Korea in early March 2022.
In NASA satellite data, the first signs of the fires began to appear on March 3-4, 2022, in the coastal areas of Uljin and Samcheok. On March 5, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of the fires. At the time, strong westerly winds sent smoke plumes streaming toward southern Japan. By March 7, smoke had thinned some as winds slackened and the weather turned foggy, but satellites continued to detect fire activity.
The blazes have destroyed more than 300 homes, forced more than 7,000 people to evacuate, and charred nearly 17,000 hectares (66 square miles), according to news reports. At times, flames neared a nuclear power plant and gas facilities, though firefighters succeeded in fending them off. Around 18,000 people and dozens of helicopters have been mobilized to fight the fires.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 3/5/2022
Resolutions:
1km (164.7 KB), 500m (558.1 KB), 250m (1.7 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Amid dry weather and strong winds, thousands of firefighters raced to put out fires that burned through forests in coastal South Korea in early March 2022. In NASA satellite data, the first signs of the fires began to appear on March 3-4, 2022, in the coastal areas of Uljin and Samcheok. On March 5, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of the fires. At the time, strong westerly winds sent smoke plumes streaming toward southern Japan. By March 7, smoke had thinned some as winds slackened and the weather turned foggy, but satellites continued to detect fire activity.
The blazes have destroyed more than 300 homes, forced more than 7,000 people to evacuate, and charred nearly 17,000 hectares (66 square miles), according to news reports. At times, flames neared a nuclear power plant and gas facilities, though firefighters succeeded in fending them off. Around 18,000 people and dozens of helicopters have been mobilized to fight the fires.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 3/5/2022
Resolutions:
1km (164.7 KB), 500m (558.1 KB), 250m (1.7 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
