California Wildfires Map, Latest News Update 2017: NASA Releases Damage Proxy Map to Assist in Disaster Response Efforts

By Vianne Ilagan, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, October 22, 2017

A map of the recent wildfire in California was recently released to aid in the disaster response efforts in the affected areas. The map was released by the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA and California Institute of Technology, both located in Pasadena, California.

The damage proxy map shows the areas in Northern California that were damaged by the ongoing outbreak of wildfires in the region. According to reports, the map was derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images which were taken after the wildfires devastated parts of Northern California recently. The said images were reportedly captured via the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites, which are operated by the European Space Agency.

The "before" image was taken last Sept. 27, while the "after" image was taken last Oct. 9. Both of them were captured around 7 p.m. PDT. The images provide aerial views of the full area that's been damaged by the current wildfire, particularly the cities of Sacramento and Santa Rosa, which are located just north of San Francisco.

Covering the area within the large red polygon at the bottom and measuring 155 by 106 miles, the map provides emergency responders situated on the ground with a better picture of which areas have been most devastated by the recent fire outbreaks.

In a blog post written by NASA officials, the agency said, "The map has been provided to various agencies to aid in the wildfire response." The post also says that the map is best used in showing the amount of damage in areas that are populated by homes rather than wilderness areas. The map shows the severity of damage in each area through color variation, which ranges from yellow to red.

Since the first wildfire last Oct. 8, NASA has been using its own satellites to keep an eye on the fire outbreaks. As of now, around 7,000 homes and structures have already been destroyed by the fire.