Fires in California

Fires in California

Several days after it started, the Freeway Fire left a sprawling burn scar on the California landscape. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image on November 22, 2008. In this false-color image, red indicates vegetation, tan indicates bare ground, gray-blue indicates buildings and paved surfaces, and dark blue indicates water. The Freeway Fire burn scar, stretching across the middle of the image, is a charcoal color. Along its southwestern margin, the burn scar intrudes into the curving suburban streets of Yorba Linda and Brea.

NASA image created by Robert Simmon, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. Caption by Michon Scott.