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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