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Timber/Plaskett Fire Data
updated hourly (at 1 min past each hour)

Saturday, August 22
Updated August 26

August 22: The Timber Fire has escaped into the Ventana wilderness, entering into Lion Creek and Big Sur River South Fork as I write this.  With drier, warmer conditions expected growth will increase, especially if reaching areas not burnt by the Soberanes Wildfire of 2016. 
August 26: The Plaskett Fire is now burning in the Silver Peak wilderness. 



Interactive Map Details

So I want to report here on what Big Sur Trailmap is displaying on its 2D interactive map and 3D map
Aircraft IR (infrared) overflights provide daily (usually) perimeters of the burn extent - flight timing varies with CalFire and USFS aircraft used.  More frequent observations come from satellite IR hits, notably three NASA VIIRS (nominal 375m resolution) and two older MODIS (nominal 1000m resolution) satellites- their passes are irregularly timed, typically with 5-7 passes per day. 

In addition, on the 2D interactive map a 'Soil Burn Severity' from the 2016 Soberanes Wildfire can be displayed, since increased fire intensity is expected when the fire reaches unburnt areas. 

The trailmap checks for new perimeter and satellite data every hour, updating as needed.  Aircraft-derived burn area is a gray fill with darker border - clicking the perimeter gives observation date/time and burn acres.  MODIS satellite resolution is much coarser than VIIRS satellite resolution, so they are treated differently.  Satellite hits are in 3 age bins with circles for VIIRS and triangles for MODIS, different sizes indicating different confidence levels as shown in the burn Legend (controls must be displayed to see that legend link).  On the 2D trailmap, the area covered by a VIIRS satellite is shown as gray overlay and by MODIS satellite as a gray border - for both, clicking the satellite symbol displays observation date/time, confidence, and area border.  Note that satellite hit age bins are based on the latest observation time time, not the current time



Google Earth

For those using Google Earth, I also create an updated Google Earth KMZ file with perimeter and satellite hits:
Download
Timber Fire Google Earth "network link" file

•  Download the "network link" file above
•  Start Google Earth
•  Click "File""Open" and select downloaded file [GE_wildfire_overlay.kml]
•  'Timber Fire Data' will appear under "Temporary Places" on left sidebar and its lines/icons appear
•  "Move" "Timber Fire Data" into "My Places" on sidebar folder
(can click+hold with left mouse button, then drag to desired position)
•  Click "File""Save""Save My Places"
•  The above saves the file info in Google Earth for later access
•  To update thereafter, right-click "Refresh" or "Revert" on 'Timber Fire Data'

Alternatively, the Google Earth file is available for direct downloads at https://bigsurtrailmap.net/MAPS/FIRE/CURRENT/create.fire_detection_kml.kmz




Email Notifications

Finally, I send an email notification whenever perimeter or satellite data is updated (also reports change in 0-6hr hits and acreage respectively) - you can get on (or off) that list by emailing me at .  Typically I get 6-7 emails per day alerting me to changes so I can check out the new growth when at PC.