Paradise, California

The Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California's history.

84.8 hectares changed — new construction · Before: 1 Jul 2018 – 15 Oct 2018 · After: 20 Nov 2018 – 28 Feb 2019 · 39.760, -121.620

BEFORE 2018-10

AFTER 2019-02

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84.8 haarea changed

34areas flagged

3,612 haarea examined

2satellites used

What changed, by type

78.3 haNew construction / earthworks

5.5 haVegetation cleared

1.0 haNew water / flooding

Land changes in both directions at once. SCOPE reports every type it measured, not only the one that makes the better headline.

What SCOPE found

New construction / earthworks — 4.3 ha
2.7 km north-west · 78% sure

New construction / earthworks — 4.2 ha
3.4 km north-west · 80% sure

New construction / earthworks — 3.6 ha
2.4 km west · 80% sure

New construction / earthworks — 3.6 ha
2.5 km west · 77% sure

New construction / earthworks — 3.4 ha
3.3 km north-west · 76% sure

How sure is this?

The strongest area (#1) has 78% confidence. It appears in 5 of 6 later clear images, so it is not a one-day artefact. Radar could not confirm or rule them out (normal for vegetation changes), so the result rests on repeated clear optical views and the seasonal comparison. Only 0% of the area had clear optical views, so some change may be hidden by cloud. Note: Optical imagery was unusable (cloud); results rely on Sentinel-1 radar only. Confidence measures how strong the evidence for real surface change is; it does not identify the cause or who did it.

How it was measured

SCOPE used Sentinel-2 optical imagery at 10 m, cloud-masked and combined over each period, Sentinel-1 radar as an independent check , and the same season in earlier years so normal seasonal change is not reported as real change. The analysis took 17 seconds.

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