Fighting the wildfires ravaging California right now is such a major undertaking that firefighters need help from space. NASA has a fleet of satellites up above us— some constantly orbiting the Earth and others hovering right over California — that are producing clear imagery of the raging fires, smoke and, most important, the wind.
This has been a crucial help in fighting the fires that are raging now. The Santa Ana winds are spreading the flames and, from space, NASA can tell more accurately just how fast the fire is moving and in which direction it’s likely to head next. And the satellites can also spot remote fires so that firefighters can be sent to put them out before they spread.
They transmit the information to firefighters and chiefs in command centers so they can make real-time decisions on where to send smokejumpers or whether to send out an evacuation order. “We use the satellites to inform decisions on where to stage assets across the country,” says Brad Quayle of the Forest Service’s Geospatial Technology and Applications Center, which plays a major role in providing remote-sensing data. “When there’s high competition for firefighters, tankers and aircraft, decisions have to be made on how to distribute those assets.”
Some of the satellites are equipped with a Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, or VIIRS, which have a high spatial resolution, at 375 meters per pixel, allowing it to detect smaller, lower temperature fires. VIIRS also has nighttime fire detection capabilities through its Day-Night Band, which can measure the low-intensity light that comes from small fires before they begin to grow.
The first moments after a fire ignites are critical, says Everett Hinkley, National Remote Sensing Program Manager for the U.S. Forest Service. In California, when the howling Santa Ana winds combine with dry timber, response time can mean the difference between a catastrophic fire and one that is quickly contained.
“Those firefighters who are first responders don’t always know the precise location of the fire, how fast it’s moving or in what direction,” says Hinkley. “We’re working to give them real-time or near-real-time information to help them better understand the fire behavior in those early critical hours.”
But wildfires aren’t the only thing that the space agency helps out with. In fact, NASA has an entire division to address catastrophes across the globe. Volcano erupting?
NASA can detect the spread and velocity of the ash. Big storm coming? NASA can see exactly where it’s headed and how it’s picking up speed. Tsunami on the horizon? NASA can track its size and progress.
Although the agency was created in the 1950s to explore outer space, it has turned its talents in recent years closer to home. The Earth Observing System was established in 1997, as part of its mission to develop a better science-based understanding of our own planet.
In just the past three years, NASA has expanded its Disasters Program and become a key partner in cooperative relationships between international aid groups, regional authorities and natural disaster response teams.
From its vantage point in space NASA can often detect remote catastrophes before authorities on the ground are even aware that disaster is in the making. NASA monitors can not only alert authorities to trouble, but they can also provide vital guidance — pinpointing locations and weather conditions. It may seem surprising that a space agency is doing all this but, after all, the Earth is a planet, so NASA has all the tools needed to study it.
(Some imagery courtesy of NASA)
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