Megafire in the Landes de Gascogne forest, SW France

Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 08 July 2022 at 11:21:31 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 10 July 2022 at 11:06:29 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 12 July 2022 at 10:56:31 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 13 July 2022 at 11:21:19 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 17 July 2022 at 10:56:29 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 22 July 2022 at 10:56:31 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 23 July 2022 at 11:21:19 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 24 July 2022 at 10:46:29 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 25 July 2022 at 11:06:31 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Land, forestry, emergency, wildfire, tourism, climate change, global warming, drought, France
Fig. 1 - S2 (12.07.2022) - The Landes de Gascogne forest is located in south-western France, south of Bordeaux.
2D view
With a surface area of almost one million hectares, it is the largest artificial forest in Western Europe. It also encompasses the Dune du Pilat, the highest dune in Europe with 102.5 m (500 m wide from east to west and 2.7 km in length).
Fig. 2 - S2 (17 & 24.07.2022) - The forest at the foot of the dune has been devastated by a major fire, burning 7000 ha, smaller than the 13 800 ha fire at east.
2D view
This happens in the context of moderate winds in Gironde, extremely low vegetation humidity levels (<10%) and high temperatures.
These are the largest fires recorded in the region since 1949. Around 20 000 persons have been evacuated, which of 6000 who stayed in nearby campings, because of these two fires. The western fire, may endanger the stability of the Dune du Pilat, since the forest at its base has been heavily damaged.
Other unusual locations have faced wildfires, such as NW region of Brittany in France or the suburb of London, both have faced temperatures over 40°C for the first time.
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
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