Intense, fast-moving bushfires raced across the Eyre Peninsula in south-central Australia on January 11, 2005. Driven by strong winds, the bushfires raced toward the sea in a devastating wall of flames. Some who were trying to escape the fire in their cars were overcome by flames. Others were forced to swim out into the sea and were rescued by helicopter.
This pair of images shows the huge fire and a thick cloud of smoke on January 11, 2005, captured in images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The top image is a natural-color, photo-like image, while the bottom image is made with MODIS' observations in both visible and infrared wavelengths. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. In the false-color infrared image, areas of bright pink within the fire perimeter are places of intense flaming.
The high-resolution images provided above have a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides theses images at additional resolutions.
Images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
