NASA is using information from Earth-observing satellites to assist in recovery efforts following a series of devastating wildfires in Northern California.
The agency released a "damage proxy map" today (Oct. 19) that provides aerial views of the cities of Sacramento and Santa Rosa (just north of San Francisco) taken before and after the fire outbreaks. The maps provide emergency responders on the ground with a better idea of where the fires inflicted the most damage.
"The map has been provided to various agencies to aid in the wildfire response," NASA officials wrote in a blog post. The map is best used to show damage in areas populated by homes, rather than wilderness area, according to the blog post. Colored areas show the severity of the damage, a spectrum from yellow to red.
The map was produced by scientists with the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) Project for Natural Hazards at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, both in Pasadena, California. The scientists built the map using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). The agency provided similar damage proxy maps to emergency responders in Puerto Rico following the devastation created by Hurricane Maria in September.
NASA has been using its own fleet of satellites to keep an eye on the fires since they erupted in California's wine country on Oct. 8. Authorities are now reporting that approximately 7,000 homes and structures in California have been destroyed by the fires.
Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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