 caused the bushfire to spread quickly and move erratically. By January 7, it had burned over 120 square kilometers (46 square miles) of woodland and grassland within the steep and inaccessible terrain of the Mount Lofty Ranges.
In the Landsat 8 image acquired on January 4, the burned areas are brown. Active fire appears red with white-blue smoke rising from it. The urban area of Adelaide can be seen in the lower left.
As of January 9, the fire has been contained, but firefighters continue to monitor the unburned pockets of vegetation for flare-ups. Falling trees and limbs have become a hazard for crews working in the area.
Multiple Storms along the Vietnam Coastline December 23, 2014
In July 2014, rains from Typhoon Rammasun triggered heavy flooding as it made landfall in northern Vietnam. Only two months later, Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall along the same section of coast. While the rainfall was not as strong as it was from Rammasun, rivers were still swollen from the previous storm.
The first two Landsat images show the shoreline along the Gulf of Tonkin after each of these major storms. In the July image, the dark shades across the landscape indicate the extent of flooded land and potential crop damage due to Typhoon Rammasun. Increased flows of river sediment into the gulf are prominent in this image; bright shades of blue contrast with the surrounding waters.
The second image was acquired several days after Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall. This image shows a less pronounced flood impact across the landscape, but sediment flows are still clearly visible from this storm. The October image shows the area in continued recovery after both typhoons, with normalized sediment flows into the gulf.
Landsat data provide an important source of pre- and post-event images that are often used to support disaster and recovery monitoring worldwide.
Ohio’s capital city, Columbus, is situated along the Scioto River and is one of the fastest growing cities in the state. In 1986, the municipal population was estimated at 600,000. The latest population estimate for Columbus from the U.S. Census Bureau is over 820,000.
These two images show Columbus and surrounding areas in 1986 and again in 2014. The second image shows the gray urban areas expanding into previous agricultural land, which is indicated by green patchy areas. The bright areas throughout the city are retail and industrial centers. The dark blue spots along the river in the southern part of the city are wastewater treatment ponds and other ponds associated with local sand and gravel quarries.
The historical record provided by Landsat images can be a useful tool for city managers, planners, and scientists who are monitoring and documenting the changes to Earth’s land cover caused by urban expansion.
A volcanic eruption that started on August 31 in Iceland shows no sign of weakening. This eruption is occurring at the Bardarbunga volcano, which lies north of the Vatnajökull glacier in south-central Iceland. Lava has been flowing spectacularly from the Holuhraun lava field, and the eruptive fissure has now spread lava across more than 70 square kilometers (27 square miles).
These Landsat 8 images show different spectral bands and band combinations acquired on September 6, 2014. These images provide examples of the type of information being used by scientists to monitor and map the eruption.
The first image is a false-color composite that combines information from the shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and green wavelengths of light. In this image, the recently erupted lava glows bright orange and red. The areas covered by snow and ice within the neighboring glacier can also be seen in shades of blue-green. The second image is a natural color representation, based on the visible wavelengths of light. In this image, the location of active volcanic fissures can be seen as small bright features, and the plumes and trajectory of ash and steam can also be clearly seen. The surface of the cooling lava flows (where visible) are black. The third image is a thermal infrared representation