In mid- to late April 2007, the Sweat Farm Road Fire threatened the southern margin of Waycross, Georgia, forcing thousands to evacuate. In an image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite on April 27, 2007, the fire’s encroachment toward the town is visible. The image uses a combination of visible and infrared light detected by ASTER to make the burned areas (charcoal) stand out from surrounding vegetation (red) and paved/developed areas (light gray). Through scattered clouds, the charred landscape is visible, crisscrossed by an irregular network of roads. Pockets of unburned or lightly burned vegetation stand out in red. As of April 30, the fire had affected more than 50,000 acres, according to reports from the U.S. Southern Area Coordination Center. The Sweat Farm Road fire was burning in the northern parts of the Okefenokee Swamp on April 30, adjacent to the 26,000-acre Big Turnaround Complex Fire.
References & Resources
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.
