Kansas has a ritual in the springtime–the annual burning of the tallgrass prairies. This tradition, according to the Kansas Farm Bureau, is part of the region’s culture, and it helps to control invasive species and is also used as a range management tool. These types of fires deliberately set by farmers are called prescribed fires. This annual burning only occurs for a few days each year, but weather conditions dictate the length of the burning seasons. The critical part for farmers is supervising the fire during this time period as weather plays a huge role in keeping the fire controlled. Winds that are high or humidity that is low can both create instances where fires could potentially spread quickly. Because of this Kansas State University recommends burning take place when wind speeds are between five and 15 miles per hour, relative humidity is from 40 to 70 percent and temperatures fall in the range of 55 to 80 degrees.
NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks “right now.” This satellite image was collected by the Terra satellite on March 31, 2019. Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points. Burned areas show up as dark red-brown patches. Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner with information from the Kansas Farm Bureau.