The Washington Post maps disasters in the United States, with a page that shows maps of flood warnings, tornadoes and hurricanes, extreme heat and cold (see above), wildfires, lightning, and earthquakes and volcanoes. In the wake of a natural disaster there’s usually someone suggesting that the victims are at fault for living in a disaster zone. The WaPost’s maps have an answer to that: “It turns out there is nowhere in the United States that is particularly insulated from everything.”
Tag: wildfires
California Wildfire Roundup
The San Francisco Chronicle’s 2018 California Fire Tracker is an interactive map of ongoing and contained wildfires—notably, at this moment, the Camp and Woolsey fires. It includes fire perimeter and air quality data. (Note: it’s glitchy on desktop Safari.)
Two Esri maps: a general wildfire map and a map of smoke from wildfires [Maps Mania]. Add to that a map of field damage reports in the area hit by the Camp Fire [Maps Mania].
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has produced a map of the damage from the Camp Fire based on satellite radar images. NASA Earth Observatory has maps and animations showing the impact of the Camp Fire on air quality and satellite images of the Woolsey Fire burn scar.
The New York Times has a map tracking air quality in California. Smoke from the fires has reached the east coast: an outcome predicted by atmospheric models (see above map).
This interactive map from NBC News that superimposes the Camp Fire on any location to help people outside California get a sense of how big these fires are. [Maps Mania]
California’s Camp Fire
NASA Earth Observatory published a Landsat 8 image, dated 8 November, of the massive Camp Fire in northern California. Meanwhile, Maps Mania links to several California wildfire-related maps and resources.
Smoke from the British Columbia Wildfires
Smoke from the British Columbia wildfires (previously) has blanketed the Canadian prairie provinces and can be seen from space, CBC News reports. The above image was taken by the Suomi NPP satellite on 15 August.
Carbon Monoxide from the California Wildfires
Carbon monoxide released into the atmosphere by the California wildfires is drifting across North America in concentrations sufficient to turn up on the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. A series of maps showing CO concentrations in the United States between 30 July and 7 August, using AIRS data, have been combined into the animation above.
Previously: Mapping the Northern California Wildfires.
Mapping the British Columbia Wildfires
British Columbia isn’t having a very good year either, forest fire wise. For maps of the wildfires burning in the province, see the B.C. Wildfire Service’s interactive map, which shows active wildfires, fire perimeters, and evacuation areas. Evacuation maps are frequently tweeted by Emergency Info BC. Data journalist Tara Carman has posted maps of wildfires and evacuation zones, but they haven’t been updated in a couple of weeks and are now out of date, I fear.
Previously: Mapping the Northern California Wildfires.
Mapping the Northern California Wildfires
The Washington Post maps the largest of the wildfires burning in northern California: the Carr Fire threatening the city of Redding and surrounding communities. The Redding Record Searchlight has drone footage of the destruction wreaked by the Carr Fire in Shasta County. NASA has natural and false-colour imagery (Earth Observatory, Visible Earth) of the Carr Fire, as well as the Ranch and River Fires to the south, the so-called Mendocino Complex. See the Mercury News’s fire map of the Mendocino Complex, whose two fires’ combined acreage is now larger than the Carr Fire. Meanwhile, German astronaut Alexander Gerst observed the California wildfires from the International Space Station. [San Francisco Chronicle]
Satellite Imagery of Scottish and Swedish Wildfires
BBC News looks at how satellite imagery from the European Space Agency’s Copernicus program is being used to help fight wildfires in the Scottish highlands.
Meanwhile, the Copernicus program captured images of wildfires in Sweden last month.
U.S. Wildfire Causes, 1980-2016
Jill Hubley has mapped the causes of wildfires in the United States from 1980 to 2016, based on Federal Wildland Fire Occurrence Data. The map toggles between main causes (human and natural) and specific cause; there’s also a chart ranking the causes.
The highest and lowest ranked causes are highlighted when the chart loads. These represent the cumulative ranking across all years. Lightning, a natural cause, often floats to the top, but that’s only because on the human side, the vote is split between more than twenty options. Lightning doesn’t predominate in all states, though. In Alabama, the number one cause is pyromania. In Indiana, it’s brakeshoes. In Minnesota, it’s field burning. There are a couple of overall trends, too. Smoking is going down as a cause, and powerlines are going up.
How to Build a Fire Map
Last October Robin Kraft posted an online map of the northern California wildfires showing satellite imagery from before and after the fires (see previous entry); today he’s posted a blog entry explaining how he built it, in great technical detail. The timing is not accidental: “There is another fire raging in Los Angeles right now — if DigitalGlobe and Planet release their data, you can use this guide to make your own map.”
The New York Times Maps the Tubbs Fire
The destruction wrought by the Tubbs Fire in northern California, and the speed at which it spread, is mapped with excruciating detail by the New York Times graphics team.
California Wildfires: Mapping Sonoma County
Sonoma County’s wildfire information page points to a number of useful maps: fire perimeter boundary maps, current evacuation areas, road closures, rapid evaluation safety assessment (RESA) maps. The City of Santa Rosa’s emergency information page also has maps specific to that city; Heavy also has a roundup. See also Cal Fire’s structural status information map. [The Mercury News]
Previously: Mapping the Northern California Wildfires.
Mapping the Northern California Wildfires
Maps and satellite imagery of the wildfires in Northern California include the San Francisco Chronicle’s interactive map; Robin Kraft’s interactive map showing satellite imagery from before and after the fire; this New York Times page mapping building damage in Santa Rosa; the Washington Post’s coverage of the devastation; and NASA Earth Observatory’s images of the smoke plumes here and here.
More Fort McMurray Satellite Images
Google Earth Blog has a roundup of the available satellite imagery of the Fort McMurray wildfire.
Previously: Satellite Imagery of Fort McMurray Wildfire Damage; DigitalGlobe Satellite Imagery of Fort McMurray; Fort McMurray Fire Roundup.
Satellite Imagery of Fort McMurray Wildfire Damage
Satellite imagery from the Pléiades-1A satellite showing the extent of wildfire damage caused to Fort McMurray, Alberta can be viewed through a web-based mapping application released by the government of Alberta. (Doesn’t work in Safari for Mac; works fine in Chrome.) [CBC News]
Previously: DigitalGlobe Satellite Imagery of Fort McMurray; Fort McMurray Fire Roundup.