April 29, 2009 - Fires in Nepal and India

Fires in Nepal and India

A band of smoke and fire runs along the Himalayan Mountains in Tibet and India on April 25, 2009. The MODIS on the Aqua satellite captured this image on the same day. Nearly the entire country of Nepal is visible in this image, surrounded by Tibet to the north and India to the south and west. Each of the red dots represents an active fire.

The fires you see are likely agricultural or land management in nature. Some may be related to forest fires, as spring is the end of the dry season, such fires are not uncommon. However, fall and winter 2008 and 2009 were unusually dry and in March there were several very large forest fires in this region. To compare this image to the region on March 12, check out this Earth Observatory article.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 04/25/2009
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC