Soberanes Fire VIIRS/MODIS data — 1400 8/8

If last night’s satellite images made it look as if this fire was going away, toady’s first-pass MODIS and VIIRS ones make it clear that this thing is not nearly over.

First, the VIIRS data. It’s much higher resolution than the MODIS data, but we only get two passes a day compared to MODIS’s 4.

In the west, it looks like fire on the wrong side of the fire break. Those could easily be back burns. I sure hope they are. The central section, which had become isolated, appears to be hoining with the western section:

In the east, either the fire line south of the General Store is about to be tested, or that’s back burn. From my house I can see a lot of smoke in that direction [Added 0230. Now the smoke is gone. For it to be so impressive and over so quickly indicates a back burn to me.]:

Here’s the MODIS data. You will be forgiven if you think that the VIRRS data is enough and decide to skip it. We will have another MODIS pass in a couple of hours, though, and the next VIIRS pass won’t be until tonight.

In the west:

In the east:

The low activity on the east side of the central section means that the fire break south of the General Store will probably only have to be defended today and tomorrow across a smaller distance:

than it would have been if the central section had continued its eastward march:

The orange lines are the dozer fire breaks that were in as of 7/30, plus one that I added by hand. The pink lines are the ones that were planned as of that date. The fat black lines are the outlines of the fire’s perimeter on the official Cal Fire maps from last night.

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. When the squares overlay other objects, the color of the square changes somewhat, but the color of the dot in the middle does not. So look at the dot if you’re uncertain what color the square should be. 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.