July 3, 2023 - Burn Scars in Eastern Canada

[image07032023_main.jpg] [image07032023_rollover.jpg]

June 29, 2023 June 2, 2023
Tweet
Share

After an exceptionally dry and warm May, a storm front brought intense
lightning to the Canadian province of Quebec on June 1, 2023. According
to a report by the Quebec provincial government, 3,024 lightning
strikes struck in and near the province on June 1. 139 fires broke out
that single day, with 95% attributed to lighting.

With fire conditions high to extreme, some of these fires spread wildly
to become true “fire giants”. With continued extreme fire weather, 144
additional blazes broke out across Quebec during June. The government
reported that in June alone there were 1,459,048 ha of forest burned in
the intensive protected area and 852,523 ha in the northern area.
That’s a total of more than 2.3 million hectares (8,900 square
miles)—larger than area encompassed by the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Thankfully, rain and cooler temperatures have helped reduce fire
weather, aided firefighting efforts, and reduced the intensity of
several forest fires. As of July 3, several communities will lift
evacuation notices so citizens can return home. Some (but not all)
previously closed roads and access to some forests will also reopen.
This doesn’t mean the fires are quenched, however. The Société de
protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) continues to battle 65
active fires, of which 3 are out of control, and 25 of which are
high-priority fires as of July 2.

On June 29, prior to the recent rainy weather, the Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a
false-color image of burn scars from the recent fires in Quebec
province. In this type of image, vegetation appears bright green, water
is dark blue or black, smoke can look blue or gray, and clouds are
usually white but high, cold cloud can be tinted light electric blue.
Burn scars, which are charred land that remains after fire passes, can
range from brick red to black. Small orange-red spots mark actively
burning fire.

On June 29 the province was covered by many burn scars. Some,
especially in the north, were truly massive. Smoke billowed from the
western edge of the largest scar and a long line of active fire was
visible. While burn scars were abundant further south, there were very
few signs of active fire.

Much of the province, especially in the north, is speckled with lakes,
streams and bogs. Because each of these appear dark, it can be a bit
difficult to sort out some burn scar from fire. However, Aqua MODIS
also acquired a false-color image of the same area on June 2, and this
image can be viewed by clicking the date under the image. The
difference between June 2 and June 29 is readily apparent. On June 2
only a very few of the newly-ignited fires have yet grown hot enough to
be marked with an orange hot spot or to show smoke.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 6/29/2023
Resolutions: 1km (1.4 MB), 500m (3.5 MB), 250m (2.2 MB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-07-03

--- up 1 year, 18 weeks, 20 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)