On the island of Borneo, the terrain to the south and southeast of the mountains that run northeast to southwest through the island’s center is home to peat swamp and lowland rainforests, most of which are in various stages of modification by humans. On October 7, 2004, this area was experiencing many fires, which were detected during a pass of the Aqua satellite by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Active fire locations have been marked in red, and thick smoke fills the air over the southern part of the island. The fires here and in neighboring Sumatra have been burning off and on for nearly two months.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the MODIS Rapid Response team.
