On May 2, 2013, an explosive wildfire ignited in southern California near Camarillo. Fueled by unusually dry conditions and strong winds, the Springs Fire blazed through more than 24,000 acres of chaparral on the Santa Monica Mountains, forcing the closure of parts of Highway 101 and threatening thousands of homes in Camarillo, Newbury Park, and Thousand Oaks.

Within a week, hundreds of firefighters had contained the fire, limiting damage to just 16 buildings. That may seem like the end of the story, but for Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams, the work just begins when the flames die down.

BAER teams often head for the field while the remnants of a fire are still smoldering. These multidisciplinary groups of scientists—which include hydrologists, wildlife biologists, soil scientists, geologists, engineers, botanists, ecologists, and foresters—evaluate the severity of a fire and look for additional threats. The risk of floods, severe erosion, and landslides often increases because wildfires consume leaf litter and other organic matter that normally soak up and retain moisture. Vaporized oils from charred leaves also can leave a water-repellent sheen on the soil that causes water to run-off.

It’s the job of the BAER team to spot such risks as quickly as possible so emergency planners can begin developing responses. The obvious way to do this is to investigate with people on the ground. However, there are times when fires are so large and inaccessible, or when resources are stretched so thin, that BAER teams can’t get to all the fires. Since about 2001, BAER teams have gotten help from some eyes in the sky.

Satellite sensors collect data in a variety of wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum, some far beyond what the human eye can detect. Certain wavelengths in shortwave and near infrared are especially useful for gauging the severity of a fire. If a satellite passes over at the right time, remote-sensing experts can produce maps of burn severity within hours of the blaze.

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), the newest Landsat satellite, passed over the Springs Fire on May 4, 2013. In the false-color images above from LDCM’s Operational Land Imager (OLI), unburned vegetation appears dark green. Burned areas are red, and the most severely burned areas are generally the darkest. Actively growing farmland is light green; plowed fields are brown. Buildings and roads are gray. Note that the image is rotated so that north is to the right.

While most of the Springs Fire affected shrubland and forested areas, flames did encroach on fields and homes near Camarillo and Newbury Park. The lower image shows the same area on March 18, 2010. (Turn on the image-comparison tool to see the difference.)

“Having a new Landsat satellite on orbit is critically important. We have to deliver our maps to the BAER teams within a week for them to be most useful, and our odds of getting timely high-quality cloud and smoke-free image acquisitions just went up dramatically.” said Randy McKinley, a geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center who makes burn severity maps.

“With the recent loss of Landsat 5, we were limited to one Landsat overpass every 16 days for most fires. With the successful launch of LDCM, we will now be getting a look at wildfires at least every 8 days,” he said. In addition, LDCM is expected to collect more than 400 scenes per day; instruments on Landsat 5 and 7 collected about 250.

Note that the images above are considered engineering data—they help LDCM scientists and engineers ensure that the satellite and its instruments are operating as designed. Once LDCM completes its check-out period and becomes fully operational for science, NASA will pass control of the satellite to the U.S. Geological Survey and LDCM will be re-named Landsat 8

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Fueled by hot, dry Santa Ana winds, several wildfires started in southern California in early May 2013. The National Interagency Fire Center (PDF download) has predicted that fire season in California could be earlier than normal due to scarce winter and spring precipitation.

On May 2, 2013, a fire started near Camarillo Springs and gusty winds blew it toward the coast, wafting smoke out over the Pacific Ocean. The same day, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites captured these images of the fire burning about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, California. The Terra image (top) was collected at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, and the Aqua image (lower) was collected at 2:30 p.m. PDT. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures that are associated with fires.

According to firefighting agencies in California, the Springs fire had spread over 10,000 acres by 6:30 a.m. on May 3. More than 30 homes and other buildings had been damaged by fire, and another 4,300 were threatened. The fire was being fought by more than 900 firefighters on the ground and 14 water-dropping helicopters and planes, and it was 10 percent contained by the morning of May 3.

Meteorologist Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground noted that “an unusually sharp ridge of high pressure has set up, bringing record high temperatures, a strong Santa Ana wind event, and dangerous fire weather.” Temperatures in Southern California were above 90°Fahrenheit in many places, with humidity as low as 5 percent. Winds gusted from 40 to 75 miles per hour. Masters noted that a low pressure system was expected to bring onshore winds and cooler temperatures over the weekend.

• References

• Cal Fire Springs Fire. Accessed May 3, 2013.
• Weather Underground (2013, May 3) Fires, Floods and Heavy Snow: an Extreme May Weather Situation. Accessed May 3, 2013.
• Ventura County Fire Department Red Flag Warning in Effect. Accessed May 3, 2013.

1. Further Reading

2. Los Angeles Times (2013, May 2) Southern California fire season off to a sinister start. Accessed May 2, 2013.
3. Los Angeles Times (2013, May 2) California wildfires: Mandatory evacuations as winds fan Springs fire. Accessed May 2, 2013.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Mike Carlowicz.

Instrument:

Terra – MODIS

On May 2, 2013, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this view of the Panther and Cedar wildfires burning near Lassen Volcanic National Park. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fires.

• References

• Cal Fire (2013, May 2) Panther Fire. Accessed May 3, 2013.
• Cal Fire (2013, May 2) Cedar Fire. Accessed May 3, 2013.

1. Further Reading

2. Lake County News (2013, May 2) Wildland fires around the region grow in size due to heat, wind. Accessed May 3, 2013.
3. ChicoEr (2013, May 3) Panther Fire near Butte Meadows Explodes to 10,000 acres. Accessed May 3, 2013.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.

Instrument:

Aqua – MODIS

Fire Information Report for SpringsWildland Fire IncidentReport Date: 03-MAY-13 MED. TO HEAVY FUELS WITH A RAPID RATE OF SPREAD High 800000.00 1033PRIM

CNN

Evacuations begin as California wildfire grows