Landsat Satellite Images help aid Emergency Officials with Natural Disasters

By Victoria Brown on June 20, 2011

USGS and NASA Satellite Image of Arizona Wallow Wildfire
Digital News Report – The US Geological Survey (USGS) along with NASA have been able to map aerial views of the Mississippi flooding as well as the Arizona wildfires. These images have helped aid emergency officials in planning strategies to deal with the natural disasters.

The Landsat 5 satellite had captured images at different times of the Wallow and HorseShoe 2 wildfires to help firefighters plan strategies for managing what is being called Arizona’s most devastating wildfires in the state’s history.

The flooding of the Mississippi has also been a problem with levees giving way and flooding land near the river.

Besides mapping terrain, the Landsat 5 satellite is able to calculate temperature differences and smoke from the fire. Examples of interactive imagery with before and after satellite photos of the disasters are being shown of the Arizona wildfires and the Mississippi flooding. It can viewed at http://eros.usgs.gov/#/About_Us/Views_of_the_News

By: Victoria Brown

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