The ongoing wildfire in California has killed eight people and affected thousands more, forcing the closure of the state’s oldest park – Big Basin Redwoods State Park – for the season.
NASA is marshaling its resources and satellites to help the state deal with lightning-induced natural disasters. The agency said in a statement that scientists have created maps and other data products to detect fire and smoke plumes and predict which parts of California may be affected further.
“When such disasters occur, we can quickly respond to the needs of our partners’ images and mapping data,” said David Green, manager of NASA’s Disaster Program. “Similarly, after a fire incident, our researchers will use orbital and aerial data from burned areas to help eliminate hazards such as landslides and mud-stones.”
Related: California wildfires pulled out of space due to damage (photos)
NASA-led Aqua and Terra are imaging the field with a device called the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS).
Two other terra instruments are also assisting in this endeavor: the Advanced Spacebourne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTR) which monitors smoke and heat in visible, near-infrared and thermal-infrared wavelengths, and the multimer Seeing how many icles of smoke particles travel high and long.
Woodfires are monitored by the Suomi-NPP Satellite (operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA) and the Calypso Satellite (a joint mission between NASA and the French National Space Agency, CNES).
NASA said in a statement that plumes of smoke generated by California fires have traveled in the vast expanses of western North America in recent weeks, affecting air quality and visibility. “Airborne smoke can increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease when inhaled, so tracking their spread provides valuable information for local public health officials.”
Related: Why is forest fire smoke bad for your lungs?
Drones and planes are also monitoring the spread of the fire. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California has its unabated aerial vehicle synthetic aperture radar (UAVSA) on various fires in Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Napa, Solano and Lake County.
The instrument C-20 flies under an aircraft that is usually based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center near Palmdale, California. It is commonly used to detect land changes in specific areas such as seismic faults, and is being re-emerged in an effort to look for burn scars.
“The instrument’s radar signals bounce differently than freshly burning ground, leaving vegetation behind,” NASA said in a statement.
“It is important to accurately measure the extent of burn scars to evaluate the long-term effects of fire damage. Vegetation damage on mountain slopes carries the risk of mudslides during rainstorms. In combination with other science instruments, the UAVSAR When given a better understanding of their long-term effects. “
To better understand the impact of the fire on different regions of California, with UAVSAR, JPL is flying a short-wavelength infrared imager to see the fire at the same time that UAVSAR sees the smoke.
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