Here’s a NASA Satellite View of One of New Jersey’s Biggest Wildfires in Decades

Images taken by a NASA satellite this week reveal the worrying extent of a fast-moving wildfire in southern New Jersey. Taken during the fire’s second day, the images capture plumes of smoke and scorched terrain from the fire that’s burned 15,300 acres to date. New Jersey’s Pine Barrens are no stranger to fire—pitch pines actually need occasional burns to thrive. But when drought meets dense development, a natural cycle can turn dangerously destructive. This week, when a wildfire ignited in a wildlife management area near Waretown, New Jersey, and quickly grew into one of the state’s largest fires in decades. NASA’s Landsat 9 captured the blaze—dubbed the Jones Road Fire—on April 23 using its OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2). In natural-color views (below, at left), thick smoke billows from the fires southwards, with the coastline visible to the east. But more insights are gleaned from the satellite’s false-color imagery—a combo of shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and visible lig ... Read full article.