Images
April 23, 2015 - Fires and smoke in eastern Asia
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Spring fires burned across eastern Asia in late April, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on April 20. Actively burning areas are marked in red, and most are accompanied by heavy smoke. A few dark burn scars are visible through the smoke.
Most of the fires cluster in the mountains of southern Russia, with several burning in Mongolia. China, in the southeast, is marked with only a few red hotspots, but smoke from the northeast pours over the region. Clouds cover the eastern section of the image.
Farmers in this region traditionally set fires to their dried grass in the spring to prepare their land for the new growing season. This year (2015) in April, unusually warm temperatures and strong winds turned the tradition into raging out of control fires. According to media reports, wildfires in the Russian region of Khakassia in southern Siberia have killed 15 people and caused damage worth at least $96 million.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/20/2015
Resolutions:
1km (676.2 KB), 500m (2.2 MB), 250m (5.3 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Spring fires burned across eastern Asia in late April, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on April 20. Actively burning areas are marked in red, and most are accompanied by heavy smoke. A few dark burn scars are visible through the smoke.
Most of the fires cluster in the mountains of southern Russia, with several burning in Mongolia. China, in the southeast, is marked with only a few red hotspots, but smoke from the northeast pours over the region. Clouds cover the eastern section of the image.
Farmers in this region traditionally set fires to their dried grass in the spring to prepare their land for the new growing season. This year (2015) in April, unusually warm temperatures and strong winds turned the tradition into raging out of control fires. According to media reports, wildfires in the Russian region of Khakassia in southern Siberia have killed 15 people and caused damage worth at least $96 million.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/20/2015
Resolutions:
1km (676.2 KB), 500m (2.2 MB), 250m (5.3 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
