Dozens of large forest fires burned in Russia’s Far East on July 18, 2008, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this image. The forests of the area are deep green; at high elevations, the ground is bare and brown. Places where MODIS detected fires are outlined in red. Thick smoke plumes spread north from the blazes.
The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides the image in additional resolutions.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.
