On Tuesday morning, January 7, a forest fire started in Palisade and spread to 1,214 hectares in just 24 hours.. Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses. Local authorities say that the threat remains due to gusts of wind, and therefore additional orders may soon be issued, writes Space.

The fire is believed to have been caused by strong winds and engulfed the Pacific and Palisade neighborhoods in west Los Angeles.. Local authorities also say a deadly fire is still burning in parts of Los Angeles in Southern California, and scientists are monitoring the spread of fire and smoke using satellites from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)..

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Vital information about the progress of the fire is provided to community leaders, firefighters and forecasters from satellites equipped with instruments capable of continuously photographing and monitoring the fire and the smoke plumes it causes..

To do this, NOAA researchers use two types of satellites at their disposal.. Both of them work in tandem, which allows you to monitor the progress of a forest fire:.

Researchers note that both satellites are equipped with next-generation instruments for observing our planet, but there are differences. While JPSS orbits the Earth in a polar, non-geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 824 kilometers above us, the GOES satellites orbit over the same point on Earth, but at an altitude of 35,786 kilometers.

As a result, scientists use different filters and spectral bands on the instruments on board both satellites, allowing them to create powerful images showing the growth and movement of fire and smoke in near real time..

Using time-lapse photography, the researchers were able to capture the location of the fire, as well as how it grew in size and intensity over time.. Scientists were also able to trace where the winds push the smoke plume - its movement was captured on video.

Using a similar instrument on board the second satellite, scientists were also able to take an image, highlighting hot spots from the fire and the length of the smoke plume stretching over the ocean. The researchers note that these tools are extremely important and without them, firefighters and forecasters would have to rely only on ground reports, which at times may not be available or arrive late..

Previously, Focus wrote that the celebrity district in Los Angeles was engulfed in a large-scale fire: who has already lost luxury housing.