A fast-growing wildfire that forced thousands of residents from their homes northwest of Los Angeles in late September 2005 had come under much greater control by early October. According to estimates from the National Interagency Fire Center on Monday morning, October 3, the 24,175-acre fire was about 85 percent contained, but was nevertheless still a threat to residences. This satellite image of the burned area was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on October 2, 2005. Shortwave- and near-infrared observations from MODIS have been added to the image to make burn scars (deep red) stand out better from vegetation (bright green) and naturally bare or thinly vegetated ground (pale pink or tan). The image is shown at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The large image is the same resolution, but it shows a wider area. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center
