Images
January 15, 2025 - Burn Scars in Southern California
January 12, 2025
January 2, 2025
September 4, 2024
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Firefighters continued to battle several large and deadly fires in Southern California through mid-January 2025, including two major fires which have been burning in Los Angeles County since January 7. Despite the destruction and death these two recent fires have caused, they are not the only fire that have singed the region in the last several months. A fire outbreak in and near Los Angeles County on January 7 and 8 ignited many fires, most of which were rapidly quenched. In September 2024, another outbreak gave rise to two large fires, the Line Fire in the mountains of San Bernadino County and the Bridge Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains in Angeles National Forest. Each fire left an impressive mark on the landscape.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired three false-color images of the same area of Southern California, one on January 12, 2025, one on January 2, 2025, and one on September 4, 2024. When compared, these images tell a tale of a long, difficult 2024-2025 fire season.
In this type of false-color image, vegetation looks bright green, open land is tan, water appears green, and most cloud shows up as white. High, cold clouds that contain ice may be tinted with bright blue, while snow and ice on the ground show up as distinctly bright blue. Burn scars, which are the area damaged by a fire, can show up in a range of colors, from brick red, to tan, to dark brown or even black.
The color of a burn scar seen in satellite images depends on many things, including how completely the fire burned the vegetation, the temperature of the fire itself, the type of soil, and the age of the burn. Fresh burns often show up as brick red, then begin to lighten as they age. Eventually vegetation will regrow, and the scar will become very light. In fire-prone areas, where vegetation growth is slow, such as California, it’s not uncommon to see many burn scars of varying ages, from very new to a year or more old.
In the January 12 image, at least five large burn scars are visible. This includes the Palisades fire, north of Los Angeles and along the Pacific Coast, the Eaton Fire near the mountains northeast of northern Los Angeles, the larger scar of the Bridge and the Vista fires east of the Eaton Fire in the Angeles National Forest, and the Line Fire in the mountains south of the Bridge Fire. Several burn scars in the southwest appear to be from prescribed burns, according to data from InciWeb.
Clicking on the January 2 image deletes the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, but each of the other scars are present. When the September 4 image is clicked, it reveals a very different view. Most of the landscape is green and scar-free, especially in the locations that had been burnt so dramatically in the more recent images. A few recent burn scars can be seen in the northeast, and one bright red area in the southwest suggests a fresh scar or perhaps an ongoing fire. In some areas, faint remnants of burn scars which have been nearly filled with vegetation can also be seen.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 1/12/2025
Resolutions:
1km (117.5 KB), 500m (311.8 KB), 250m (395.3 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
January 12, 2025 January 2, 2025 September 4, 2024
Firefighters continued to battle several large and deadly fires in Southern California through mid-January 2025, including two major fires which have been burning in Los Angeles County since January 7. Despite the destruction and death these two recent fires have caused, they are not the only fire that have singed the region in the last several months. A fire outbreak in and near Los Angeles County on January 7 and 8 ignited many fires, most of which were rapidly quenched. In September 2024, another outbreak gave rise to two large fires, the Line Fire in the mountains of San Bernadino County and the Bridge Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains in Angeles National Forest. Each fire left an impressive mark on the landscape.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired three false-color images of the same area of Southern California, one on January 12, 2025, one on January 2, 2025, and one on September 4, 2024. When compared, these images tell a tale of a long, difficult 2024-2025 fire season.
In this type of false-color image, vegetation looks bright green, open land is tan, water appears green, and most cloud shows up as white. High, cold clouds that contain ice may be tinted with bright blue, while snow and ice on the ground show up as distinctly bright blue. Burn scars, which are the area damaged by a fire, can show up in a range of colors, from brick red, to tan, to dark brown or even black.
The color of a burn scar seen in satellite images depends on many things, including how completely the fire burned the vegetation, the temperature of the fire itself, the type of soil, and the age of the burn. Fresh burns often show up as brick red, then begin to lighten as they age. Eventually vegetation will regrow, and the scar will become very light. In fire-prone areas, where vegetation growth is slow, such as California, it’s not uncommon to see many burn scars of varying ages, from very new to a year or more old.
In the January 12 image, at least five large burn scars are visible. This includes the Palisades fire, north of Los Angeles and along the Pacific Coast, the Eaton Fire near the mountains northeast of northern Los Angeles, the larger scar of the Bridge and the Vista fires east of the Eaton Fire in the Angeles National Forest, and the Line Fire in the mountains south of the Bridge Fire. Several burn scars in the southwest appear to be from prescribed burns, according to data from InciWeb.
Clicking on the January 2 image deletes the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, but each of the other scars are present. When the September 4 image is clicked, it reveals a very different view. Most of the landscape is green and scar-free, especially in the locations that had been burnt so dramatically in the more recent images. A few recent burn scars can be seen in the northeast, and one bright red area in the southwest suggests a fresh scar or perhaps an ongoing fire. In some areas, faint remnants of burn scars which have been nearly filled with vegetation can also be seen.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 1/12/2025
Resolutions:
1km (117.5 KB), 500m (311.8 KB), 250m (395.3 KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
