

The fire detection algorithm compares the temperature of a potential fire with the temperature of the land around it. Fortunately, satellites can track forest fires and deliver warnings to emergency crews. History shows that when wildfires get out of hand, they can be costly and deadly to people nearby. Monitoring Real-Time Forest Fires with MODIS and VIIRS It’s easy to get confused with clouds for Landsat images, so you can verify the fire with thermal infrared (TIR) and the KMZ. Not only is Google Earth Pro good for active forest fires, but also for measuring the footprint of the burned area. As you can see below, here is a satellite view from the December 2017 wildfires in California. If you downloaded the correct date and time, you should be able to see the forest fire. Finally, drag and drop the Landsat image into Google Earth Pro without any extra processing.

The image type you want is Landsat Look with Geographic Reference (about 10MB). Select your area, time frame, and choose Landsat-8.
#Watch the forest no download how to
If you want to see a snapshot of the fire, your best chance is using a Landsat scene from the USGS Earth Explorer.įortunately, we have a tutorial how to download Landsat data. As you can see above, the latest forest fires will pop up with fire symbols. Next, drag and drop the KMZ into Google Earth Pro. But really, all it takes a bit of legwork to get started.įirst, download the latest active fire data from NASA. Even though the imagery is usually less than a year old, chances are that you won’t see a forest fire in the application. And the best part is that it’s never a cloudy day. Google Earth Pro is a handy tool that helps you sight-see the planet.
