One of the worst droughts in decades combined with high temperatures is making the job of firefighters in Portugal difficult and dangerous, as they battle dozens of fires burning in the country’s parched woodlands. Fires have been burning off and on since July 2005, and by late August, the country is scattered with burn scars. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’sa Aqua satellite shows active fires (outlined in red) as well as dozens of burn scars (deep reddish brown) across Portugal. Vegetation is bright green. This image was captured by MODIS on August 24, 2005.
The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center
