The October wildfires that plagued southern California were some of the
worst on record. One of these, the Witch Wildland fire, burned 198,000
acres north of San Diego, destroying 1125 homes, commercial structures,
and outbuildings. Over 3,000 firefighters finally contained the fire two
weeks after it started on October 21. Now begins the huge task of planning
and implementing mitigation measures to replant and reseed the burned
areas. This ASTER image depicts the area after the fire, on November 6;
vegetation is green, burned areas are dark red, and urban areas are blue.
On the burn severity index image, calculated using infrared and visible
bands, red areas are the most severely burned, followed by green and blue.
This information can help the US Forest Service to plan post-fire
activities.
With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared
wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters
(about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing
surface of our planet.
ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18,
1999, on NASA's Terra spacecraft. The instrument was built by Japan's
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team
is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the
data products.
The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides
scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface
mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example
applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring
potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud
morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution
monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils
and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.
The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission
Directorate.
Size: 37.5 by 45 kilometers (23.1 by 27.8 miles)
Location: 33 degrees North latitude, 116.9 degrees West longitude
Orientation: North at top
Image Data: ASTER Bands 6, 3, and 1
Original Data Resolution: ASTER 15 meters (49.2 feet)
Dates Acquired: November 6, 2007
