April 17, 2015 - Fires in eastern Europe

Fires in eastern Europe

Fires speckled the landscape from the Gulf of Finland almost to the Black Sea in early spring, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on April 11, 2015.

Red hotspots mark locations where the thermal sensors on the instrument detected temperature higher than background. When combined with typical smoke, as seen in some areas of this image, such hotspots are diagnostic for fire. The widespread nature and the time of year suggest that these fires are most likely agricultural fires, which are used to manage the land for cropping. Early spring is a time of clearing fields in preparation for planting, and for pasture renewal. Fires are even found along the edges of the remaining snow, in western Russia.

Image Facts
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Date Acquired: 4/11/2015
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Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC