Fires in Alaska
Fires Across Alaska
18August 2005
Fires continued to blaze across Alaska on 16 August 2005. According to the daily situation report from the Alaska Fire Service, 110 fires were burning in the state as of 16 August. Weather conditions were causing the smoke to linger across the interior, causing unhealthy air quality warnings for much of the state. The report stated that 584 fires had burned more than 3 million acres in Alaska as of August 16. This image of fires (marked in red) and thick smoke over the interior of Alaska was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Terra satellite.
TERRA
16 August 2005
21:20 hrs UTC
(Image courtesy MODIS)
True colour: Bands 1-4-3
False Colour: Bands 7-2-1
The links provide a 500m resolution for both scenes
Air quality warnings have been issued for about 90 percent of the Interior, according to the August 12 report from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Air Quality. Conditions have ranged from very unhealthy to hazardous over the weekend in many locations, including Fairbanks. A large area of high atmospheric pressure spread over much of the state, keeping temperatures high and reducing winds that would clear the air.
The 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.
(Source: Earth Observatory)
The image below was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite on 15 August 2005 and shows the large burned areas of the numerous fires that raged throughout the state´s interior.
(source: OSEI)
For background information on the Fire Situation in Alaska see:
- Alaska Fire Service website
- Geographic Information Network of Alaska
- Alaska Fire Service Report Page
