Satellite images of the Sampson flat fire Adelaide Hills – January 2015

by Aer0metrex_admin

The Sampson Flat bushfire which started on Friday 2nd January 2015 in the Adelaide Hills has blackened more than 12,000 hectares so far.

The following article shows a collection of satellite imagery showing the extent of the damage.

A huge thank you to all those Emergency Service personnel and volunteers from SA and interstate who are risking their lives to fight these fires.

Useful resources regarding the Sampson Fire can be found here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Adelaide/comments/2r5x9h/adelaide_northeastern_fires_2015_thread/

Tomnod powered by Digitalglobe has started a crowd sourcing campaign to help identify burnt buildings, damaged roads using the a high resolution satellite imagery acquired on Monday 5th. To access the application and start helping, click here.

Crowd sourcing satellite monitoring application Tomnod showing Gumeracha in Flase Colour composite (Imagery Copyright Digitalglobe)

The Rapid Response NASA MODIS Terra satellite imagery below have been acquired on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th January 2015. The fire plumes can be seen between the cotton wall looking clouds on the Saturday imagery. (image copyright NASA)

Click to enlarge pictures

Nasa MODIS Terra imagery sampson flat fire 3rd January 2015

Nasa MODIS Terra imagery sampson flat fire 4th January 2015

The CFS SA map below shows the extend of the burnt area on Sunday 4th January 2015 at 12:30pm (source CFS SA website)

Sampson Flat fire map – 12:30pm Sunday 4th

The Landsat 8 satellite imagery below has been acquired on Sunday 4th at 10am (EST) and clearly shows the fire scars in brown. Active fire front can be seen on the top part of the scare. (image copyright USGS)

Landsat_8_4th 10am Sampson Flat (Copyright Nasa Landsat)

Zoom in over the burnt area Landsat 8 4th 10am (Copyright Nasa Landsat)

Overview of Worldview-2 RGB satellite imagery acquired on the 4th (Copyright Digitalglobe)

The false colour composite (using Near Infrared Channel) show the contrast between burnt (dark grey) and intact vegetation area (Red). The Shortwave Infrared channel highlight the active fronts (white area on the left image).

False Colour composite and Shortwave infrared Landsat 8 Satellite Imagery

Fly-though over the area

Emergency services are using aerial mapping technology to to help make crucial decisions in the recovery process. The example below shows an high resolution False colour composite aerial imagery acquired to support the recovery process after the Delburn bushfire in January 2009.