Spring wildfires in north-east Mexico

Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 02 February 2021
Sentinel-3 SLSTR acquired on 11 March 2021
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 20 March 2021
Sentinel-3 SLSTR acquired on 27 March 2021
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 30 March 2021
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Wildfire, emergency, mountain range, topography, national park, Mexico, American Cordillera.
Fig. 1 - S3 SLSTR (27.03.2021) - A series of wildfires has affected north-east Mexico, south of the city of Monterrey.
Fig. 2 - It has hit the northern part of Sierra Madre Oriental range, at the border of Coahuila, Nueo Leon & San Luis Potosi states.
Fig. 3 - S2 (30.03.2021) - The fires spread mostly in the rugged region of Cumbres de Monterrey National Park.
A major reason for the high number of fires is Mexico’s wide-ranging drought.
Fig. 4 - S2 (30.03.2021) - The topography forms parallel lines in a basins and range type of landscape.
As of March 15, the National Water Commission (Conagua) said that 1694 of Mexico’s 2643 municipalities, or 83%, were in drought conditions.
Fig. 5 - S2 (30.03.2021) - The fire has seen the evacuation of people from 15 communities, affected by extremely bad air quality level.
In December, the agency declared seven of Mexico’s northeastern states to be in a state of natural disaster due to drought.