MSGID: 1:317/3 62a386ac   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   June 10, 2022 - Early Fire Season Sparks to Life in Southwest Alaska   
      
      Fires   
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      Snow, smoke, and springtime fires colored the landscape of Southwest   
      Alaska in early June 2022. On June 8, the Moderate Resolution Imaging   
      Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a   
      true-color image that stretched from Norton Sound (west) to Cook Inlet   
      and the Kenai Peninsula (east). Multiple red “hot spots”, each   
      accompanied by plumes of smoke, mark more than a dozen fires burning in   
      this section of the state. A blanket of smoke covers the southern-most   
      portion of the image, while copious snow blankets the highest   
      elevations of the Aleutian and Alaskan Ranges.   
      
      According to the Alaskan Wildland Fire Information Map Series posted   
      online on June 9, at least thirty individual fires were burning in   
      Alaska, most of those in the southern half of the state. The Brooks   
      Range as well as the North Slope (both to the north of the top edge of   
      this image) remain fire-free. The same organization reported that the   
      Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Alaska Fire Service were working one   
      notable fire, the East Fork Fire, ramping up efforts to protect Native   
      allotments, cabins, and nearby communities as wind pushed that fire to   
      within 8 miles of the town of St. Mary’s. The East Fork Fire reached   
      nearly 50,000 acres on June 9, after it crossed the Adreasfsky River   
      earlier in the week.   
      
      The University of Alaska Fairbanks identifies four phases of the Alaska   
      fire season, especially in the interior region of the state. The first   
      is Early Fire Season, which occurs just after snow melt, typically from   
      May through early June. This is phase is driven by dead grass ignited   
      by human activities and driven by strong winds. The Peak phase, also   
      known as the Duff-Driven phase, occurs by long warm days around the   
      solstice. The warming temperatures dry out subsurface fuels (known as   
      duff) that is easily ignited by lightning. This usually occurs from   
      early June through mid-July. The third phase is Drought-driven Fire   
      Season, which occurs if temperatures remain high and precipitation   
      stays low. This season usually occurs in late July through the end of   
      August. The final phase of the fire season is called the Diurnal phase,   
      when nighttime temperatures drop and relatively humidity increase   
      during the shorter days from September through May. Fire has difficulty   
      igniting and spreading under the cooler, more humid conditions of this   
      phase, but large, late-season fire events are becoming more common with   
      increasingly warm temperatures later in the year.   
      
      According to the Alaska Public Lands Information Center, it is   
      important to remember that fire is a part of the natural environmental   
      cycle as well as a potential destroyer of life, property, and   
      resources. Fire is a natural part of Alaska’s ecosystem, with many   
      positive benefits. Not all wildland fires in Alaska are suppressed,   
      many are allowed to burn themselves out, especially in remote and   
      unsettled areas. All fires are monitored to assure they do not burn   
      unchecked towards areas where human life or development/structures   
      could be threatened.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 6/8/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (1.3 MB),  500m (2.4 MB),  250m (10.9 MB)   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-06-10   
       
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