Science

Satellite views of California as wildfires rage

More than 1 million acres of California have already burned as fire season only just begins

James Martin

James Martin is the Managing Editor of Photography at CNET. His photos capture technology's impact on society - from the widening wealth gap in San Francisco, to the European refugee crisis and Rwanda's efforts to improve health care. From the technology pioneers of Google and Facebook, photographing Apple's Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai, to the most groundbreaking launches at Apple and NASA, his is a dream job for any documentary photography and journalist with a love for technology. Exhibited widely, syndicated and reprinted thousands of times over the years, James follows the people and places behind the technology changing our world, bringing their stories and ideas to life.

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James Martin

Aug. 23, 2020 11:34 a.m. PT

01-overview-of-california-wildfires-22august2020-nasa-terra-modis-with-fire-detections-in-orange

As wildfires continue to burn across California, there appears to be no end in sight to the destruction. The hot dry winds that typically denote California's "fire season" between August and November have only just begun.

In all of 2019, an estimated 259,823 acres of California burned, and already this year, California has seen more than 1 million acres burned.

This image from NASA's Terra Modis (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite shows a view of California from Redding in the north to Los Angeles in the south, with thick smoke covering nearly the entire state.

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This natural color image of the LNU Lightening Complex fire burning through Lake and Sonoma counties near the famed wine country along Dry Creek Road and the town of Healdsburg, California, taken on Aug. 20, 2020.

Maxar's WorldView-3 satellite is equipped with a shortwave infrared sensor that penetrates the smoke and lets users detect active fires, hot spots and accurately map and measure burn areas including the LNU Lightning Complex wildfires, the CZU Lightning Complex wildfires, the SCU Lightning Complex wildfires and the Carmel and River wildfires.

A Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) sensor image of the LNU lightening complex fire burning through Lake and Sonoma counties near the famed wine country and the town of Healdsburg, California, taken on August 20, 2020

A shortwave infrared sensor image of the LNU Lightening Complex fire burning through Lake and Sonoma counties near the famed wine country and the town of Healdsburg, California, taken on Aug. 20, 2020.

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A natural color image of the CZU Lightening Complex fires near Santa Cruz, California taken on Aug. 21, 2020, shows the dense smoke now covering much of California.

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A wide overview shortwave infrared sensor image of the CZU Lightening Complex fires near Santa Cruz, California taken on Aug. 21, 2020.

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A natural color image of the CZU Lightening Complex wildfires burning through Boulder Creek and Loch Lomond, California, taken on Aug. 21, 2020.

This visible and near-infrared (VNIR) image of the CZU complex wildfires near Bonny Doon and Felton, California taken on August 21, 2020.

This visible and near-infrared image of the CZU Lightening Complex wildfires near Bonny Doon and Felton, California, taken on Aug. 21, 2020 shows the incredible cloud of smoke being emitted.

Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) sensor image of the SCU lightening complex fires

A wide overview shortwave infrared sensor image of the SCU Lightening Complex fires taken on Aug. 22, 2020, having already burned 339,968 acres across several counties.

A close-up view of the River Fire, burning south of Salinas, which had grown to 39,464 acres by Friday morning when this image was taken on Aug. 21, 2020, and was 9% contained.