Fires in Alaska
Fires Across Alaska
15August 2005
Between the Brooks Range and the Alaska Range Mountains, along the path of the Yukon River, dozens of fires were burning on August 10, 2005, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this image.
AQUA
10 August 2005
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center
This infrared-enhanced image makes burned areas (deep reddish brown) stand out from healthy vegetation (bright green) and water (dark blue). Snow on the mountains is bright blue. Notice that the vegetation on the high elevations of both mountain ranges is so sparse that some areas appear similar to the burned areas. The Alaska Interagency Fire Service report from August 10 stated that 571 fires had burned an estimated 2.4 million acres in the 2005 fire season to date.
(Source: Earth Observatory)
For background information on the Fire Situation in Alaska see:
- Alaska Fire Service website
- Geographic Information Network of Alaska
- Alaska Fire Service Report Page
