Dozens of fires were burning in eastern Russia on April 29, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over head and captured this image. Places where the sensor detected fires are outlined in red. The fires are probably a mixture of intentional agricultural fires (especially those along the Amur/Heliongjiang River, which separates China and Russia) and natural or accidental forest fires (the large, smoky ones). According to news reports, fires have been breaking out in the region since early or mid April.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.
