l Land Imager (OLI) captured imagery of one of the most destructive infernos in Canadian history. The fire has burned an area approaching 600,000 acres.
The May 12, 2016, false-color image relies on shortwave infrared, near infrared, and red light (OLI bands 7-5-4) to show hazy blue smoke, bright orange active burning spots, and a reddish-brown burn scar that surrounds Fort McMurray as it extends east and south toward the Saskatchewan border. It is a stark contrast from the pre-fire image acquired by Landsat 8 on October 17, 2015.
Alberta officials report that nearly 10 percent of Fort McMurray was destroyed by the fire, which started May 1 south of the city. Hot weather, dry vegetation, and strong winds spread the fire quickly. The cause has yet to be determined.
So far, over 2,400 structures have been destroyed in and around Fort McMurray. At least another 500 were damaged in the city, and many of the structures still standing suffered smoke damage.
Staff from the U.S. Geological Survey are assisting the Provincial Operations Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, by providing Landsat imagery that shows the fire’s progress, and post-fire burn severity assessments that are expected to provide information of value during post-fire mitigation activities.
Wildfire Forces Evacuations in Fort McMurray, Alberta May 6, 2016
A massive wildfire burning near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, fueled by dry conditions and high winds, has destroyed 1,600 structures and forced more than 88,000 people to evacuate the area so far.
On May 3, 2016, Landsat 8 acquired data of the inferno, which razed neighborhoods within Fort McMurray. Using shortwave infrared (SWIR) and near infrared (NIR) bands to help penetrate clouds and smoke and create false-color imagery, Landsat shows the active fires’ hot spots, which appear orange. Burned area is dark red, and smoke is hazy blue.
Two weeks before the fire started, on April 17, Landsat captured a much quieter scene of Fort McMurray and its surrounding landscape—home to the Athabasca oil sands, the largest known reservoir of crude bitumen in the world.
By May 5, the wildfires had consumed almost 210,000 acres, and forced the largest evacuation on record in Canada.
Forest and fire management officials in Alberta can turn to Landsat for help with post-fire mitigation activities once the blaze is out. Landsat’s infrared sensors are valuable for producing burn-severity maps and other products quickly after images are acquired.
Lake Levels in Hispaniola Rise Dramatically May 4, 2016
Landsat imagery shows a dramatic change in lakes Azuéi and Enriquillo, inland saltwater lakes on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola that are known for their crocodiles and iguanas.
A Landsat 7 image acquired in March 2002 showed Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic at half the size it is now. In March 2016, Landsat 8 found a growing lake that has engulfed 40,000 acres of farmland and displaced thousands of families. Similarly in Haiti, Lake Azuéi grew 40 percent in that time period, and now stretches even farther across the border into the Dominican Republic.
Lake levels were high 30 years ago, and have fluctuated depending on rainfall and weather patterns. But a consortium of scientists from the United States and Dominican Republic studying this latest phenomenon call a dramatic rise between 2004 and 2009 unprecedented. The Dominican government believes water from the Rio Yaque del Sur, the nation’s second-longest river, is channeling into Lake Enriquillo through agricultural canals after heavy rain events.
Dominican leaders hope damming the Yaque will stymie the growing lakes. Otherwise, they fear the lakes will continue to swallow more farmland as they threaten a fragile ecosystem.
A single Landsat satellite images this area—and any area around the globe—every 16 days, giving scientists a continuous ability to monitor and perhaps mitigate the situation. With the Hispaniola economy already suffering, with Cao Cao and other bird species continuing to lose their nesting habitat, and with crocodiles and endangered iguanas