We have the results of the second midday MODIS satellite pass, and it’s modest good news for Cachagua residents: the new hot spots aren’t headed right for us.
The fire breaks that were complete as of midnight 7/30 are in orange. The proposed ones are in pink. I still don’t know if all that activity in the very southern part of the fire is wild fire or back burns.
If we zoom out, we can see that they’re planning fire breaks in case this thing gets really big:
How to read the MODIS/VIIRS heat indications: The size of the square represents the nominal margin of error. The fire could be anywhere in the square, not just at the center. Dark red squares were detected less than six hours before the data set was created. Light red squares were detected less than twelve hours before the data set was created. Orange squares were detected less than 24 hours before the data set was created. Yellow squares were detected less than six days before the data set was created. Since the fire is now over six days old, some of the early detections have dropped off the map. MODIS makes mistakes, sometimes missing outbreaks, and sometime misplacing them outside the nominal margin of error. It is also a snapshot of the activity at the time the satellite is overhead, and will definitely miss flare ups between passes. MODIS can’t tell the difference between wildfires and intentional back burns.
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