Images
February 16, 2025 - Massive Burn Scars in Southeastern Australia
February 12, 2025
December 18, 2024
Tweet
A pair of vicious bushfires scorched the state of Victoria, Australia in December 2024 and January 2025. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a pair of false-color images that illustrate the large burn scars that the fires left on the landscape. The top image was acquired by Terra MODIS on February 12, 2025, after both fires had been quenched. A second Terra MODIS of the same area was acquired on December 18, 2024. To compare the two images simply click on the dates.
In this type of false-color image, heavy vegetation looks bright green, open land appears tan, sparsely vegetated land shows light green mixed with tan, water may appear dark blue, deep inky blue, or light blue, with deeper water having darker tones. Burn scars—the damage left after a fire—may appear brick red, tan, charcoal-colored, or a range in between, depending on how recently the fire burned the area, the completeness of the burn, the temperature of the fire, and the type of soil, among other factors. Brick red dominates the burn scars in the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park (southeast) and the Little Desert National Park, a typical color of recently burned land.
The fire in Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park first was reported on December 17, 2024, after dry lightning started several fires in the southern part of the national park, according to the Vic Emergency website. A small dark brown burn scar can be seen in the southeastern section of the park on the December 18 image. By January 6, this bushfire was declared contained. More than 76,000 hectares of national park and agricultural land had burned at that time. Terra MODIS detected hot spots and smoke, indicating active fire, within the contained area as late as February 6.
The fire in Little Desert was also ignited by lightning and was first reported on January 27, 2025. The fire had been fully contained by February 6, according to local media, although some hot spot activity remained on that date within the fire lines. “Containment” means the outside perimeter of the fire has stopped forward motion and growth. It is normal for fire to remain burning within the containment area for some time, as fire crews work to ultimately completely douse the fire.
Comparing the images, the one acquired on December 18, 2024, shows wide swaths of green parkland, with only a very small brown fire scar in the corner of Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park. On February 12, 2025, the image shows extremely heavy devastation in both parks. Almost all of the vegetation in the eastern section of Little Desert National Park appears to have been completely burnt.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 2/12/2025
Resolutions:
1km (111.1 KB), 500m (253.9 KB), 250m (253.6 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
February 12, 2025 December 18, 2024
A pair of vicious bushfires scorched the state of Victoria, Australia in December 2024 and January 2025. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a pair of false-color images that illustrate the large burn scars that the fires left on the landscape. The top image was acquired by Terra MODIS on February 12, 2025, after both fires had been quenched. A second Terra MODIS of the same area was acquired on December 18, 2024. To compare the two images simply click on the dates.
In this type of false-color image, heavy vegetation looks bright green, open land appears tan, sparsely vegetated land shows light green mixed with tan, water may appear dark blue, deep inky blue, or light blue, with deeper water having darker tones. Burn scars—the damage left after a fire—may appear brick red, tan, charcoal-colored, or a range in between, depending on how recently the fire burned the area, the completeness of the burn, the temperature of the fire, and the type of soil, among other factors. Brick red dominates the burn scars in the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park (southeast) and the Little Desert National Park, a typical color of recently burned land.
The fire in Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park first was reported on December 17, 2024, after dry lightning started several fires in the southern part of the national park, according to the Vic Emergency website. A small dark brown burn scar can be seen in the southeastern section of the park on the December 18 image. By January 6, this bushfire was declared contained. More than 76,000 hectares of national park and agricultural land had burned at that time. Terra MODIS detected hot spots and smoke, indicating active fire, within the contained area as late as February 6.
The fire in Little Desert was also ignited by lightning and was first reported on January 27, 2025. The fire had been fully contained by February 6, according to local media, although some hot spot activity remained on that date within the fire lines. “Containment” means the outside perimeter of the fire has stopped forward motion and growth. It is normal for fire to remain burning within the containment area for some time, as fire crews work to ultimately completely douse the fire.
Comparing the images, the one acquired on December 18, 2024, shows wide swaths of green parkland, with only a very small brown fire scar in the corner of Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park. On February 12, 2025, the image shows extremely heavy devastation in both parks. Almost all of the vegetation in the eastern section of Little Desert National Park appears to have been completely burnt.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 2/12/2025
Resolutions:
1km (111.1 KB), 500m (253.9 KB), 250m (253.6 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
