Images
June 5, 2023 - Burn Scars in Northwestern Canada
June 1, 2023
May 20, 2022
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Wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem of northern Canada, and play an important role in renewing forests and keeping them healthy. Fire season, even in a typical year, can also bring threats to infrastructure, community safety, and human health.
Each year—usually sometime in May—a few fires begin to ignite as warming temperatures melt winter’s snow and expose dry vegetation, especially in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia which sit in the dry rain shadow of the Canadian Rockies. The 2023 fire season started early and has already proven exceptionally ferocious, with more than 100 wildland fires active across Western Canada as of May 6. Throughout May, smoke from those fires have darkened the skies not only of Canada and parts of the United States, but also crossed the Atlantic Ocean to reach Denmark and beyond.
While Alberta and British Columbia have suffered the highest number of fires, Northwest Territories has also been scorched. According to a Northwest Territories government Wildfire Update, as of May 29 there had been 17 fires with a total of 18,365 hectares burned. The 10-year average for this time is three fires and 17 hectares burned.
On June 1, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image centered on Northwest Territories. At the bottom of the image a portion of British Columbia (west) and Alberta (east) are also visible. Clicking on the dates below will allow the viewer to toggle between the June 1 image and a second Terra MODIS false-color image acquired just over a year earlier, on May 20, 2022, in a more typical fire season.
The false-color images use a combination of visible and infrared light (MODIS bands 7, 2, 1). This view makes it easier to distinguish burn scars (brown or brick red) on the landscape. Hotspots associated with active fire fronts are bright red-orange, and vegetation is green. Water appears inky-blue, ice appears electric blue, clouds are usually white but high, cold clouds that contain ice crystals may be tinted light blue. Smoke may appear gray or blue-gray. Landmarks of note are the dual-pronged Trout Lake (Sambaa K’e) in the northwestern section, the tear-drop-shaped Tathlina Lake to the east, and the Mackenzie River that stretches across the upper section of the image.
On June 1, 2023, about a dozen brick-red burn scars are scattered across the region, including burn scars with hotspots both north and south of Trout Lake, indicating these fires have active fronts. Each of these two fires appear to be larger in size than the lake. Trout Lake measures 103 kilometers (64 mi) long and 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) wide and covers an area of about 513 square kilometers (198 sq mi).
The image from May 20, 2022, shows a very different scene, with only one small dark area that could be a burn scar visible near the center of the image. Ice covers the northern lakes and part of the Mackenzie River, evidence of much cooler temperatures than on June 1, 2023.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/1/2023
Resolutions:
1km (796.9 KB), 500m (1.9 MB), 250m (1.1 MB)
Bands Used: 7.2.1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
June 1, 2023 May 20, 2022
Wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem of northern Canada, and play an important role in renewing forests and keeping them healthy. Fire season, even in a typical year, can also bring threats to infrastructure, community safety, and human health.
Each year—usually sometime in May—a few fires begin to ignite as warming temperatures melt winter’s snow and expose dry vegetation, especially in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia which sit in the dry rain shadow of the Canadian Rockies. The 2023 fire season started early and has already proven exceptionally ferocious, with more than 100 wildland fires active across Western Canada as of May 6. Throughout May, smoke from those fires have darkened the skies not only of Canada and parts of the United States, but also crossed the Atlantic Ocean to reach Denmark and beyond.
While Alberta and British Columbia have suffered the highest number of fires, Northwest Territories has also been scorched. According to a Northwest Territories government Wildfire Update, as of May 29 there had been 17 fires with a total of 18,365 hectares burned. The 10-year average for this time is three fires and 17 hectares burned.
On June 1, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a false-color image centered on Northwest Territories. At the bottom of the image a portion of British Columbia (west) and Alberta (east) are also visible. Clicking on the dates below will allow the viewer to toggle between the June 1 image and a second Terra MODIS false-color image acquired just over a year earlier, on May 20, 2022, in a more typical fire season.
The false-color images use a combination of visible and infrared light (MODIS bands 7, 2, 1). This view makes it easier to distinguish burn scars (brown or brick red) on the landscape. Hotspots associated with active fire fronts are bright red-orange, and vegetation is green. Water appears inky-blue, ice appears electric blue, clouds are usually white but high, cold clouds that contain ice crystals may be tinted light blue. Smoke may appear gray or blue-gray. Landmarks of note are the dual-pronged Trout Lake (Sambaa K’e) in the northwestern section, the tear-drop-shaped Tathlina Lake to the east, and the Mackenzie River that stretches across the upper section of the image.
On June 1, 2023, about a dozen brick-red burn scars are scattered across the region, including burn scars with hotspots both north and south of Trout Lake, indicating these fires have active fronts. Each of these two fires appear to be larger in size than the lake. Trout Lake measures 103 kilometers (64 mi) long and 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) wide and covers an area of about 513 square kilometers (198 sq mi).
The image from May 20, 2022, shows a very different scene, with only one small dark area that could be a burn scar visible near the center of the image. Ice covers the northern lakes and part of the Mackenzie River, evidence of much cooler temperatures than on June 1, 2023.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/1/2023
Resolutions:
1km (796.9 KB), 500m (1.9 MB), 250m (1.1 MB)
Bands Used: 7.2.1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
