Click on the image above to see an animation of 3-meter natural color PlanetScope image collected over the Alpine Cellars Village which is a small neighborhood on the north side of Ruidoso, New Mexico on June 16 and 29, 2024. And once again, the devastation is so extreme we hardly need words to go along with this animation tragically. In the June 29th image, you can most of the vegetation in the region has been burnt other than what appears to be yards and trees that were watered enough to avoid the singeing flames of the South Fork fires. In terms of infrastructure lost, if you look at the circled region, you will see it go from a variety of colored rooves to essentially white/tan lots which means these homes completely burnt-down. Our hearts go out to the community as it recovers from this tragic wildfire. (Images Courtesy: © Planet 2024)In this monthly feature, we span the globe to examine Our Changing Landscape with a time series of medium-resolution PlanetScope satellite imagery. The PlanetScope constellation dates back to 2016 and collects hundreds of millions of square kilometers of four and eight-band 3-meter imagery daily! In August, we looked at imaging of Mount Ruang in Indonesia after its recent eruption. For the September edition of this series, we are headed to New Mexico to look at the Alpine Cellars Village area of Ruidoso that was devastated by the South Fork and Salt wildfires.
The PlanetScope Microsat Constellation
PlanetScope is a constellation of more than 240 microsats referred to individually as Doves. Each Dove is able to collect up to 20,000 square kilometers (sq km) per day of 3-meter (m) 4-band multispectral (i.e. blue, green, red and near-infrared [NIR]) imagery; and newly launched SuperDoves collect 8-band multispectral adding in valuable red-edge spectral data. Across the constellation, PlanetScope is archiving more than 200 million sq km of medium-resolution imagery a day, making it the go to source for daily imagery over most locations. This massive archive dates back to 2016, offering the most complete and continuous record of spatial data on the planet since the start of the constellation’s ongoing launch schedule. Collecting 3-meter multispectral imagery is the equivalent of ‘high-resolution’ multispectral data imaged by a 75-centimer (cm) satellite (as this satellite would feature 75-cm panchromatic and 3-m multispectral), making PlanetScope an extremely competitively priced option at just $2.25 per sq km. With well registered images and nearly daily collections of most locations, PlanetScope is the ideal imagery source for this current-events focused series, Our Changing Landscape.
2024 South Fork and Salt Wildfires In Ruidoso, New Mexico
In June, residents of Ruidoso, New Mexico, were evacuated before two fast-moving wildfires could reach their homes. The South Fork and Salt fires broke out June 17, 2024 on the Mescaleroa Apache Reservation. The South Fork fire targeted Ruidoso and quickly rolled in that direction.
Search-and-rescue teams used dogs and went to each burned home to look for victims in what they called exclusion zones. By the time people could return to their properties and learn if their homes had been destroyed, the South Fork fire had burned around 17,551 acres with an estimated 1,400 structures damaged. Sadly, with 500 homes destroyed and nothing but ashes and charred pieces remaining, 29 people were still unaccounted for and two people were killed, according to New Mexico State Police.
The FBI launched an investigation into the cause of the fires and announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the fires. It turns out a lightning strike caused the South Fork wildfire. As of July 7, the wildfire was 87% contained after burning more than 27 square miles. Parts of the town have been evacuated again because of recent flash floods, however. The nearby Salt Fire remains under investigation. It has burned more than 12 square miles and was 84% contained. New Mexico has had 368 fires so far this year, burning more than 60,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
If you would like to find out more about using 3-meter PlanetScope imagery for your academic studies, engineering projects or any landscape analysis, let us know at sales@apollomapping.com or (303) 993-3863.
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