Images
February 25, 2015 - Fires and smoke in Chile and Argentina
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On February 18, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured an image of wildfires burning across both Chile and Argentina. A very large wildfire was also burning in central Chile, south of Talcahuano, and emitting substantial dark gray smoke which blows to the northwest over the South Pacific Ocean. A wide river of smoke also curls across the western pampas of Argentina.
Black lines have been overlain on the image to mark borders between countries. The borderline runs down the spine of the Andes Mountains, with Chile to the west and Argentina to the east.
Each hot spot, which appears as a red mark, marks an area where the thermal detectors on the MODIS instrument recognized unusually warm surface temperatures. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for actively burning fire. Winds pushed the smoke plume to the northwest.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/18/2015
Resolutions:
1km (282 KB), 500m (1 MB), 250m (2.5 MB)
Bands Used:
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
On February 18, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured an image of wildfires burning across both Chile and Argentina. A very large wildfire was also burning in central Chile, south of Talcahuano, and emitting substantial dark gray smoke which blows to the northwest over the South Pacific Ocean. A wide river of smoke also curls across the western pampas of Argentina.
Black lines have been overlain on the image to mark borders between countries. The borderline runs down the spine of the Andes Mountains, with Chile to the west and Argentina to the east.
Each hot spot, which appears as a red mark, marks an area where the thermal detectors on the MODIS instrument recognized unusually warm surface temperatures. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for actively burning fire. Winds pushed the smoke plume to the northwest.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/18/2015
Resolutions:
1km (282 KB), 500m (1 MB), 250m (2.5 MB)
Bands Used:
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
