MSGID: 1:317/3 649097c5
PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08
TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08
June 19, 2023 - Burn Scars near Kafue National Park, Zambia

   Zambia
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   Multiple large burn scars covered verdant green savanna grasslands near
   in west-central Zambia in mid-June 2023. The Moderate Resolution
   Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired
   this false-color image located near Kafue National Park on June 14.

   This type of false-color image uses infrared and visible light to help
   separate vegetation, which appears bright green, from water (deep inky
   blue) and burn scars. Such scars are left after fire scorches an area,
   and their color can vary from brick red to light brown or black
   depending on several factors including how much vegetation remains, how
   hot the burn was, how long ago the fire burnt the land, and even the
   color of the soil.

   In this image, brick red is the predominant color of the burn scars and
   suggests they are recently made. In some areas they are very dark,
   perhaps where vegetation was more completely burned, or the fire became
   hotter. Orange dots appear along the edges of some of the burnt areas.
   These are spots indicating actively burning fire. Most of the scars sit
   in savanna grassland west of the Kafue River and near or in Kafue
   National Park.

   While satellite imagery can’t diagnose why a fire started, given the
   time of year and the location it is very likely that these scars came
   from fires set to manage the land. Zambia’s grasslands grow extremely
   lush in the rainy season, which begins in November and ends in April.
   Fire is a natural part of this ecosystem and even is necessary to
   sustain the savanna vegetation which supports both wildlife and human
   communities. Traditionally, nearly 70 percent of the lands in and
   around Kafue National Park burn annually, usually at the end of the dry
   season when vegetation is tinder-ready and air temperatures soar. Under
   these conditions, wild bush fires can cause devastation over vast
   areas.

   In order to manage and sustain a healthy ecosystem and avoid
   destructive late dry-season fires, a management technique called “early
   burning” is practiced in this area, and across much of Zambia. Fires
   are deliberately set in the early dry season when vegetation still has
   some moisture. It will burn, but at lower temperatures and without the
   risk of escape and spread typical of the late dry season. The process
   of early burning also helps shrubs to sprout vigorously and encourages
   growth of new grass, both of which provide food for wildlife in the
   otherwise parched late dry season. As vegetation is renewed in these
   areas, the scars will fill in and become green. By the early wet
   season, little trace of the May-through-June early burns will remain to
   be seen from space.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 6/14/2023
   Resolutions:  1km (167.8 KB),  500m (428.2 KB),  250m (257.7
   KB)
   Bands Used: 7.2.1
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-06-19
 
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