MSGID: 1:317/3 62f14f2d   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   August 8, 2022 - Fire and Burn Scars near Lake Upemba   
      
      Umpemba   
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      The Upemba Depression sits in Katanga Province of southern Democratic   
      Republic of Congo. In this low-lying land, the Lualaba River widens to   
      create many marshy lakes in the midst of scrubby savannah. There are   
      about fifty lakes, most of them small, in the Upemba Depression. The   
      largest of these is Lake Upemba, with a surface area measuring about   
      200 square miles (500 square kilometers).   
      
      On August 5, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer   
      (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-colored image   
      centered on Lake Upemba. This type of image combines infrared and   
      visible light to help highlight features such as water and burn scars.   
      Here, vegetation appears bright green, open land is colored in a   
      variety of tans, while water looks deep blue or black. The color of   
      burn scars—areas recently charred by fire—varies from bright brick-red   
      or brown in fresh scars, depending on soil color and fire   
      characteristics. Older burn scars fade as vegetation grows into the   
      previously-charred area.   
      
      The dark water of Lake Upemba contrasts sharply with the floating   
      islands of papyrus and other dense wetland vegetation typical of lakes   
      in the Depression. Other small lakes are dotted over the landscape,   
      especially to the west and southwest of Lake Upemba.   
      
      The wet savannah, west of Lake Upemba, is covered with burn scars as   
      well as actively burning fires. Deep brick-red and brown burn scars are   
      so dense and dark that, in some areas, it is difficult to discern where   
      burnt grassland separates from small black lakes. Several actively   
      burning fires, marked by red hot spots, and gray smoke are also   
      scattered over this region. While it is not possible to discern why   
      fires are burning from just a satellite image, given the location and   
      time of year, most of these fires and burn scars are likely from fires   
      that have been deliberately set for agricultural purposes—such as   
      preparing soils for planting, clearing stubble from old fields, opening   
      new areas for cropping, or renewing pastures.   
      
      The Upemba Depression has been home to humans since at least 700 A.D.,   
      providing fish, wild meat, and rich soils for agriculture. Human needs,   
      including pressure from poaching, fishing, farming, and pasture,   
      increasingly impacts the local wildlands, and the more than 1,800   
      species that live in the region. In 1939, the Democratic Republic of   
      Congo set aside about 1.7 million hectares of land, including Lake   
      Upemba and land to the south and east of it, as one of the country’s   
      first National Parks. It is an extremely diverse and important   
      ecosystem and has been recognized as and Important Bird and   
      Biodiversity Area (IBA) by Birdlife International. Agriculture   
      continues outside of the park, as the burn scars clearly show.   
      Unfortunately, many burn scars—including one very large burn scar east   
      of the lake—and at least 2 active fires can be seen within the borders   
      of Upemba National Park.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Aqua   
      Date Acquired: 8/5/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (246.2 KB),  500m (643.8 KB),  250m (352.3   
      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=2022-08-08   
       
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