Satellite images show fire devastation in Port Hills from space

Satellite imagery released by the Spanish company Deimos Imaging shows Christchurch's Port Hills, in New Zealand, before and after the wildfire that ripped through about 2075 hectares last week.

The fire began with two different blazes on the afternoon of February 13: the first one in Lansdowne on Early Valley Road, and a second one that started in a car park near Marleys Hill, off Summit Road. Two days later, on February 15, both had combined to one large area, a state of emergency was declared and about 450 houses were evacuated. Civil Defence's Christchurch controller, John Mackie, described it as "beyond anything we've ever had to deal with".

According to the last online updates from the Christchurch City Council, most of the fire is now under control, the last major cordon for residents has been lifted and most evacuees returned home. Nevertheless, a state of emergency is still in place and fire services are continuing operations due to the risk of flare ups with warmer weather forecast.

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False color images reveal the extent of the damage

These images were released by the Spanish provider of Earth Observation products and solutions Deimos Imaging, a subsidiary of the Canadian UrtheCast Corp. They were captured by its satellite Deimos-2, before the fire – on September 9, 2015 – and after the fire – on February 20, 2017.

Vegetation appears red in these Deimos-2 false-color images which were processed including the near-infrared channel. Different shades of red provide crucial information on chlorophyll content and plants health. The dark area visible in the image from February 20 reveals the extent of the fire devastation, which was just about 6 km from Christchurch’s city center.

Deimos-2 was launched in 2014 and designed for cost-effective, dependable, very-high- resolution Earth Observation applications. Providing 75cm/pixel pan-sharpened images, this is the highest-resolution fully private satellite in Europe, and one of the very few privately owned submetric satellites in the world.

These images were released by the Spanish provider of Earth Observation products and solutions Deimos Imaging, a subsidiary of the Canadian UrtheCast Corp. They were captured by its satellite Deimos-2, before the fire – on September 9, 2015 – and after the fire – on February 20, 2017.

Vegetation appears red in these Deimos-2 false-color images which were processed including the near-infrared channel. Different shades of red provide crucial information on chlorophyll content and plants health. The dark area visible in the image from February 20 reveals the extent of the fire devastation, which was just about 6 km from Christchurch’s city center.

Deimos-2 was launched in 2014 and designed for cost-effective, dependable, very-high- resolution Earth Observation applications. Providing 75cm/pixel pan-sharpened images, this is the highest-resolution fully private satellite in Europe, and one of the very few privately owned submetric satellites in the world.

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