Fires in Australia
Fires in Australia
19 February 2009
Bushfires around Marysville, Victoria
The Victoria Department of Sustainability and the Environment reported lingering pockets of fire activity in the 149,300-hectare (368,927-acre) Killmore East-Murrindindi Complex North Fire on 18 February 2009. Among the hotspots was a pine plantation in the northeast corner of the fire. That activity may be what is producing the pronounced smoke plume in the upper right corner of this false-color image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASAs Terra satellite from 17 February.
The image uses a combination of visible and near-infrared wavelengths of light to make the smoke more transparent and to highlight burned areas. Unburned vegetation is red, while burned areas are charcoal. The top image is a wide-area view of much of the Killmore East-Murrindindi Complex North Fire. The lower image shows a close-up around the small town of Marysville. The huge fire sprawls across the Cathedral Range Mountains on either side of the Maroondah Highway. Marysville sits near the center of the immense burn scar. At least 39 people died in Marysville, and disaster response crews were still in the field as of February 18, according to news reports.
TERRA 17 February 2009
The large image provided above is at MODIS maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel.
(source: earth observatory)
The current situation in Australia is covered by a number of detailed reports (see GFMC Media web page):
- CFS urges better bushfire readiness (published by www.abc.net.au, 19 February 2009)
- Australian bush fires: second man charged with arson (published by www.telegraph.co.uk, 18 February 2009)
- As Australia fire toll hits 200, focus turns to survivors (published by www.latimes.com, 18 February 2009)
- ushfires threaten water supplies (published by www.edie.net, 18 February 2009)
- Australian Bushfire Death Toll Hits 200 (published by planetark.org, 18 February 2009)
- Bushfire-hit businesses to get help (published by news.theage.com.au, 18 February 2009)
- David Balfour killed by falling tree battling Victorian bushfires (published by www.news.com.au, 18 February 2009)
- Frustration rising as tent city locals wait for homes (published by www.abc.net.au, 17 February 2009)
- Water supply moved amid bushfire threat (published by www.abc.net.au, 17 February 2009)
- Wildlife Fire Survivors Not Forgotten (published by www.enn.com, 17 February 2009)
Further Information on the Fire Situation in Australia:
SA Country Fire Service http://www.cfs.org.au/ NSW Rural Fire Service http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/ Near-Real Time Wildland Fire Monitoring https://gfmc.online/current/au_ciro.htm Current weather situation, forecasts, fireweather http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/tas/ Further Information Australian and New Zealand links Background information Recent Media Highlights on Fire, Policies, and Politics
