The extremelly destructive Waldo Canyon Fire occured outside of Colorado Springs, CO in summer 2012¶

After starting on June 23rd the fire burned until July 10th, killing two people, buring over 18,000 acres, and destorying 346 homes.

The Waldo Canyon fire in Waldo Canyon, CO

Image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Waldocanyon.jpg

Source: Remembering the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs Ten Years Later (Colorado Public Radio)

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Map of the Waldo Canyon Fire perimeter, reaching from western Colorado Springs to Woodland Park, CO¶

Data Description¶

The data used for this analysis is the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) derived from reflectance bands measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the satellite Aqua. MODIS measures Near-InfraRed (NIR) radiation, as well as visible light wavelengths and calculates the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) through the formula: NDVI = (NIR - Red) / (NIR + Red). Healthy (green) vegetation reflects a greater proportion of NIR to (NIR + Red) wavelengths than unhealthy (yellow or red) vegeatation, therefore a higher NDVI value reflects healthier vegetation. NDVI data are collected over a 16 day period at a 250 meter resolution and the best pixel value (selecting for low cloud coverage, low view angle, and highest resultant NVDI value) is used for that interval.

Citation:¶

Didan, K. (2015). MYD13Q1 MODIS/Aqua Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V006 [Data set]. NASA EOSDIS Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. Accessed 2023-09-25 from https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD13Q1.006

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Vegetation declined drastically after the Waldo Canyon fire and still has not fully recovered¶

Peak NDVI dropped drastically after the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire within it's perimeter compared to the surrounding area, reaching a minimum NDVI in the year following the fire. Since then NDVI has increased, but NDVI within the burn area has remained significantly lower than in the surrounding areas.

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