NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite’s VIIRS instrument (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) collected natural-color images from Central Africa and Indochina, where farmers prepare their land for seasonal planting by deliberately setting fire.
The Sentinel-3A, one of the most complete Copernicus missions, has advanced instruments to measure the temperature on oceans, land, ice and atmosphere. After going through testing and improvements since its launch on February 2016, it has released high quality information from the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument in October this year.
In November 2016, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) will install its Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) at the International Space Station (ISS). The spectrometer will be used to monitor natural hazards such as fires, floods, and droughts through the scan of multiple bands of
So far, more than two million hectares of Indonesian forest area have been lost due to the forest fires that broke out on 21 June 2015. The National Space and Aviation Agency of Indonesia (LAPAN) expects losses to grow, as large forest areas and peat lands, especially in Kalimantan and Sumatra, are still affected by fires.
Since weeks Indonesia experiences severe forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia's half of Borneo island. Social Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa officially confirmed the death of 19 people, as a cause of the effects of the fire haze. Due to heavy rainfall within the last days, the number of fire hot spots decreased from 1.578 to 291 on 28 October.
A new joint study between the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Interim Reanalysis (ERA-Interim) reveals that fire seasons have lengthened between 1979 and 2013. Moreover, the researchers also discovered that tough fire seasons have become more frequent during this period.
Sweden is not a country typically known for its summer wildfires. Fires occur regularly, but not in the intesity of this year's blaze that has been affecting the region of Västmanland since 31 July 2014.
The fire grew to the largest one in 40 years. It has affected more than 150 square kilometers, killed one person and forced thousands to evacuate.