In Manitoba, Canada, north of Lake Winnipeg, several massive fires were burning on July 23, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this photo-like image. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. Thick plumes of smoke spread east from the forest fires. In previous days, smoke from fires degraded the air quality enough that people in communities near Southern Indian Lake (hidden by smoke to the west of Gauer Lake) had to evacuate.
The large image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel and shows a slightly wider area, including part of Saskatchewan. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides this image in additional resolutions.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.