October 27, 2014 - Fires in northern Australia

Fires in northern Australia

Dozens of large bushfires burned across northern Australia in mid October, 2014. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) captured this true-color image on October 17 as it passed over the region.

Fires are scattered across Western Australia (to the west) and the Northern Territories (east). Some fires also burn in Indonesia. Many of the fires ring the coastal regions, but some particularly large ones are located inland.

Red hotspots mark the locations where the thermal sensors on the MODIS instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with smoke, such hotspots indicate actively burning fires.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/17/2014
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC