SPACE.com -- Satellite Captures View of New Mexico Blaze

Fire Fighters Struggle to Contain N.M. Blaze

Radar Mapping to Give Firefighters the Lay of the Land

Fighting Fires With Satellites


	Satellite Captures View of New Mexico Blaze posted: 04:06 pm ET 12 May 2000

Home-page blue-bar blurb: Fire down below

While fire officials hoped to contain the raging wildfire near Los Alamos, New Mexico on Friday, NASA's Landsat 7 satellite has been viewing the devastation from 427 miles (685 kilometers) up in space.

A visible-light image (click to enlarge, at right) shows the smoke plume from the Cerro Grande fire. The town of Los Alamos, along with the Los Alamos National Laboratory, is just to the right of the smoke in the May 9 image.

Roy Weaver, a Bandelier National Monument Superintendent, acknowledged that he had ordered the U.S. National Park Service to set the brush fire that ran out of control, scorching nearly 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) and destroying nearly 400 homes. Weaver was suspended with pay.

A combined visible and infrared view shows hot spots in the fire (above). A key to the image:

A - Fire Scar/Burned Area
B - Very Hot or Active Fire Areas
C - Los Alamos Downtown
D - Los Alamos (North Mesa/Mostly Residential)
E - Los Alamos (Barranca Mesa/Mostly Residential)
F - Los Alamos Golf Course
G - Los Alamos National Laboratory (Main Buildings)
H - Los Alamos National Laboratory (General property/Storage Areas)
I - Los Alamos Airport Runway
J - Cerro Grande Peak

The combined visible/infrared image results in a false-color image of the region. Vegetation appears bright to dark green. Forested areas are generally dark green while herbaceous vegetation is light green.

Rangeland or more open areas appear pink to light purple. Areas with extensive pavement or urban development appear light blue or white to purple.

Less densely developed residential areas appear light green and golf courses are very bright green. The areas recently burned appear black.

Dark red to bright red patches, or linear features within the burned area, are the hottest and possibly actively burning areas of the fire.

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