The intense heat and drought that ravaged the devastating wildfires in the western United States gave an unfortunate boost to the Labor Day weekend by strong winds. Many satellites and other space-borne devices have kept a watchful eye on the developments in these blasts.
As of recently, 25 large forests were burning in California as of Labor Day (September 7) NASA statement An instrument aboard the International Space Station observed vivid events from above. This Earth-observing technique, called ECOSTRESS (short for the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment at the Space Station), imaged an active fire on Sunday (September 6) in the state of California.
ECOSTRESS was designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA to monitor the temperature of plants and landscape surfaces. Two images taken shortly after midnight local time on Sunday (0713 UTC, 12:13 pm PDT) show several locations where active fires were likely to occur that night. These regions (in red) show that the surface temperature was over 370 ° F (188 ° C).
The ongoing heat wave may be responsible for the surface temperature exposed in the orange, which NASA officials said have been ‘unusually warm’ since the middle of the night.
The El Dorado fire near the UKP and the Valley fire in the Japatul Valley are active fires that ECOSTRESS captured in their imagination.
Another Earth-observation technique in space spews California fire over the weekend. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-17 satellite observed the development of a massive creek fire in Fresno County.
Satellite Spotlight: This @NOAA # GOES17 from loop shows from last Saturday how fast the #Crickfire of Fresno County grew after it sparked on Friday evening. As of this afternoon, @ CAL_FIRE states that #wildfire has grown to 144,000 acres and contained 0%. #CaliforniaFires #CAwx pic.twitter.com/T8qLQkrwu9September 8, 2020
The public affairs division of NOAA satellites published a tweet on Monday (September 7) with footage loops of the Creek Fire.
“This @NOAA # GOES17Satelic loop shows last Saturday how fast the #Crickfire of Fresno County grew after being sparked on Friday evening.” As of this afternoon @CAL_FIRE says #wildfire has grown to 144,000 acres and is 0% contained, ” the tweet said.
ECOSTRESS and GOES-17 were accompanied by the NOAA / NASA Suomi NPP satellite in their wildfire observations.
Suomi collects data about aerosols or vaporized particles transported into the Earth’s atmosphere as a result of fire smoke.
Aerosol visuals and true-color image sequences suggest that the effects of the West Coast wildfire are far-reaching. Areas within the deep-red boundary of the aerosol image have aerosol levels that “may be hazardous to the health of the people in that area,” according to a Sept 8 NASA. Press release Which describes Suomi images.
“” High aerosol concentrations can not only affect the climate and reduce visibility, they can also affect breathing, reproduction, cardiovascular system and central nervous system, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Since NASA officials wrote that the atmosphere is able to remain suspended in the atmosphere and flow in high-altitude air currents, they can travel great distances from their source, and affect their impact, ‘ ‘ Statement.
NASA’s Earth Observatory also shared the wildfire imagery taken on Labor Day weekend, publishing a blog post with California’s blanket smoke imagery. These visual capture devices are mounted on NASA’s Aqua satellite and NOAA-20 satellite.
These paintings also experience wildfires in other western states. Officials with NASA’s Earth Observatory described how the onset of strong winds over the weekend led to a ‘boom of intensity’ in the fire.
According to NASA, “Due to record-breaking heat and extreme drought conditions, there are already very strong winds in the region, strong winds have intensified the fire and many fumes have spread to the air.” has prompted. “Earth Observatory” blog post.
There are many resources available that make people want to stay updated about wildfires and their effects. California state officials are offered Daily update About the forest fire. San Francisco Chronicle has created an air quality map Resources, available online. And NASA World view The application is another tool that presents a space view of the Earth.
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