PIA22189: Devastation from California's Largest Wildfire Seen in New NASA Satellite Image
 Target Name:  Earth
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Terra
 Spacecraft:  Terra
 Instrument:  ASTER
 Product Size:  4122 x 2206 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA22189.tif (27.3 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA22189.jpg (1.932 MB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

The Thomas Fire is the largest wildfire in California's recorded history. As of January 3, 2018, it was 93 percent contained after burning 282,000 acres and destroying 1,063 structures. The fire started Dec. 4, 2017, and quickly spread out of control, fanned by high temperatures and winds. At its peak, more than 8,500 firefighters mobilized to fight it. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite acquired this image on Dec. 26, 2017. It covers an area of 21 by 38 miles (33 by 61.8 kilometers), and is located at 34.5 degrees north, 119.3 degrees west.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.

More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Image Credit:
NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Image Addition Date:
2018-01-05