LA Wildfires Burned 35 Times the Size of Yeouido in 5 Days [Climate Crisis Now]
The wildfire in Los Angeles, USA, which is not easily extinguished, has been found to have burned an area 35 times the size of Yeouido in just 5 days. Data has also been released that can estimate where the wildfire started.
The wildfire spread is changing significantly depending on the climate environment, such as wind direction and wind speed. It has been analyzed that there is also a risk of it spreading into the city.
Telefix (CEO Jo Seong-ik), a satellite solution company, obtained this data through satellite images. Telefix said, "We hope that the data analyzed through satellite images will be helpful in establishing relief strategies." Telefix
announced on the 16th that it will be delivering the results of its satellite image analysis of the massive wildfire in the LA area of California, USA to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
The LA wildfire that broke out on the 7th has not been extinguished for over a week. The extent of the damage and the cause of the fire are not accurately known.
Telefix decided to analyze satellite images and provide them to help understand the disaster situation and establish recovery strategies. We plan to provide additional data as updated information becomes available.
According to Telefix's analysis, as of the 12th, about 5 days after the wildfire broke out, the damage had spread to an area approximately 35 times the size of Yeouido (2.9㎢). The area directly damaged by the wildfire increased nearly threefold in the three days since the 9th.
As of the 9th, local time in the United States, the total area designated as a wildfire damage area through synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is approximately 75㎢. This is 25.8 times the area of Yeouido. Of this, the area directly damaged by the fire is estimated to be about half, or 33.3㎢ (11.5 times the size of Yeouido).
Telefix is monitoring the damage in the Pacific Palisades area, which has suffered significant wildfire damage, through its satellite-specific, generative AI chatbot solution, Saetchat. [Photo = Telefix]
When looking at the Sentinel-2 satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) on the 12th, the area damaged by the wildfire expanded to a total of 102.4㎢ (35.3 times the size of Yeouido). The area that suffered direct damage was also found to be 98.7㎢ (34 times the size of Yeouido).
This is the result of Telefix using its own satellite-specific generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot solution 'SatCHAT' to search for satellite images of the damaged area, then rendering them on the map mode screen, a user interface that combines graphics and text, to derive images of the damaged area, area, etc.
The rapid spread of the wildfire was found to be greatly influenced by the wind. Telefix analyzed the spread of the wildfire based on weather information such as wind direction.
When checking the Pacific Palisades fire area, which suffered significant damage from the LA wildfire, using optical images, it was found that the wildfire initially worsened from the initial ignition point to the lower left on the 7th, then changed to the lower right.
According to the weather observation results at that time, the northeast wind blew on the 7th and 8th. The wildfire spread greatly due to the strong winds and gusts that occurred on the 7th.
After that, on the 9th, the west or northwest wind blew, and the direction of fire development changed to the lower right, as confirmed through radar images taken at that time. Looking at the optical image taken on the 12th, the wildfire was observed to move inland to the center due to the southwest wind.
This shows that the damage could spread to downtown LA depending on the weather conditions in the future.
Telepix also predicted the initial ignition point from images collected by the Sentinel-2 satellite. Looking at the satellite image taken around 10:30 AM on the 7th (local time in the US), when the wildfire occurred, a large fire was captured near the left side of Skull Rock in Topanga State Park in LA.
As a result of examining it with the Sentinel-2 optical satellite, Skull Rock was identified as the initial ignition point. [Photo = Telefix]
Based on this information, it is expected that it can be used to identify the cause of the fire.
Ham Seon-jeong, Director of Telefix Image Analysis Division, said, "In the case of a disaster that spreads widely in a short period of time, such as the recent LA wildfire, ground-based monitoring methods have many limitations," and "Using satellite images, we can comprehensively identify various factors such as wind direction, weather conditions, and surrounding terrain, which is effective in establishing a rapid response strategy and predicting the extent of damage."
He continued, "In the case of this wildfire, the extent of damage varied greatly by region, so it is expected that specific relief strategies will be established based on data analyzed using satellite images."
Director Ham is currently working as a member of the Korean Working Group on Climate Crisis Response at the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) under UNDRR. He
delivered the data analyzed in relation to the large LA wildfire to UNDRR. Based on this satellite image data analysis, it is expected that it will be used in the future to establish disaster relief and recovery strategies, and to estimate the extent of damage for insurance calculations.
This Telepix wildfire damage status analysis data also suggests a method to classify the severity of damage to infrastructure such as buildings into grades. Telepix classified the area where former major leaguer Chan Ho Park's mansion is located in the damaged area as grade 3.
This is the result of a method recently adopted by satellite image analysis research institutes to classify the extent of fire damage by combining various techniques such as the Normalized Burning Index (NBR) and the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI).
This method quantifies the extent to which not only green space but also infrastructure such as buildings and roads were destroyed by the fire by identifying them on satellite images. Depending on the degree of damage, it is divided into levels 1 to 5, with a higher number indicating more severe damage.
The existing USGS (United States Geological Survey) wildfire damage severity (dNBR, differenced Normalized Burn Ratio) is a method of quantifying damage based on changes in vegetation and soil caused by wildfire, so it is difficult to fully reflect the damage to buildings with this number alone.
According to this standard, Park Chan-ho's mansion is classified as low severity, but in reality, it is known that it was completely burned down and he is currently taking refuge in a nearby mansion with his family. According
to the same standard, broadcaster Paris Hilton's mansion in Malibu is classified as low damage by dNBR, but according to the method applied by Telepix, it is equivalent to level 5.
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