File:Burn Scars in Western Canada (MODIS).jpg

English: August 28, 2023 August 25, 2022

Since May 2023, large clusters of wildland fires burned in several parts of Canada. Months later, the extreme fire activity shows few signs of letting up. On August 31, 2023, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) reported that 6,048 fires had ignited across Canada this year with 15.6 million hectares burned. On that date, 1,064 fires were active across Canada, with especially large numbers of fires burning in Yukon, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories.

On August 28, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image that highlighted expansive swaths of burn scars (patches of brown) in Western Canada. The image captures Northwest Territories (north), Alberta (southeast), and British Columbia (southwest). The large Slave Lake is located in Northwest Territories.

This type of false-color image uses infrared and visible light (MODIS bands 7,2,1) to help separate burn scars (brown, red, or black) from vegetation (bright green), water (black or deep blue), and open land (tan). Smoke appears light blue while clouds are white, sometimes with an electric blue tint. Actively burning fires look orange and generally have smoke rising from them.

With this color combination, it is easy to see that burn scars cover much of the area south and west of Slave Lake. The largest scar, which sits in the west (left) center of the image measures more than 8,800 square kilometers (3,398 square miles). That’s larger than both the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

While the devastation brought by the 2023 wildfire season can be appreciated by viewing the August 28 image, comparing an image of the same region captured approximately a year earlier clearly illustrates the impact. To compare the image from August 28, 2023 with an Aqua MODIS image from August 25, 2022, simply click on the respective dates.