Samos Island, Greece, July 2000 - On Thursday 6 July, a fire broke out and burned a large part of the Aegean Island of Samos. Several fires broke out during the week due to high temperatures of up to 40°C, but Samos Island was among the worst affected areas.
The impact of the fires meant alerting the state of emergency, evacuating several homes whilst 450 fire-fighters, soldiers and hundreds of civilian volunteers tried to bring the blaze under control. Six airplanes, four helicopters, 40 fire trucks and 15 water tanks were deployed to battle the blaze, authorities said. Although the extent of the damage was unknown, however, several homes had to be abandoned; hundreds of acres of farm land and forest had been destroyed.
A series of Landsat satellite images were acquired on Sunday 9 July.
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Event Timeline |
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Landsat TM satellite images |
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These Landsat images were acquired on Sunday 9 July 2000. This first image was acquired using a band combination of 752. This combination highlights the active fires which are evident in yellow and orange. The smoke of the fire is also visible in blue whilst the burnt areas are shown in brown. |
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Technical Information |
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Satellite: |
Landsat TM/ETM |
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Band Combinations: |
(Red): Band-7
(Green): Band-5
(Blue): Band-2 |
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Date of Acquisition: |
9 July 2000 |
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Track / Frame: |
181 |
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In this image the extent of the burnt areas are clearly evident. It is also possible to detect many smaller burnt areas in different island locations.
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Technical Information |
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Satellite: |
Landsat TM/ETM |
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Band Combinations: |
(Red): Band-7
(Green): Band-4
(Blue): Band-2 |
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Date of Acquisition: |
9 July 2000 |
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Track / Frame: |
181 |
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Landsat TM thermal band |
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The active fires are evident in this black and white image. The white points indicate the locations of the fires. |
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Technical Information |
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Satellite: |
Landsat TM/ETM |
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Band Combinations: |
(Red): Band-7
(Green): Band-4
(Blue): Band-2 |
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Date of Acquisition: |
9 July 2000 |
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Track / Frame: |
181 |
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Landsat TM 752 and 752+PAN combination comparison |
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The merge with the Landsat 7 Panchromatic band makes it possible to improve the resolution of the image, reaching a higher detailed level on towns and roads for example. The difference is also evident after JPEG compression. |
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Technical Information |
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Satellite: |
Landsat TM/ETM |
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Band Combinations: |
752 and 752+PAN combination comparison |
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Date of Acquisition: |
9 July 2000 |
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Compression format: |
jpeg |
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Samos Island (Greece), July 2000
