Images
August 7, 2017 - Fires and smoke in eastern Siberia
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The Russian Fire season continues to heat up in early August 2017. Global Fire Watch reported 88,741 fire alerts from July 29 – August 5 across the country, with more than 33,000 of these in the Sakha Republic.
On August 2, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of fires and smoke in eastern Russia. The image is centered on the Vilyuy River in the Sakha Republic.
Dozens of red hot spots, each marking an area where the thermal bands on the instrument detected temperatures higher than normal, are scattered around the image. Some of the hot spots are very large, and in one area they form part of a ring. Such a shape typically indicates that fire has spread outward from a center and is expanding while the fuel in the central area has been consumed. Gray smoke, typical of actively burning fires, rise from the hotspots and blow toward the northeast over most of the image. However, changing wind patterns in different heights of the atmosphere turn the smoke to move in the direction of the wind. A large arc of smoke can be seen in the southeast. This arc may originate with these fires, or from other blazes in the region.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/2/2017
Resolutions:
1km (102.3 KB), 500m (362.8 KB), 250m (970.7 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The Russian Fire season continues to heat up in early August 2017. Global Fire Watch reported 88,741 fire alerts from July 29 – August 5 across the country, with more than 33,000 of these in the Sakha Republic.
On August 2, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of fires and smoke in eastern Russia. The image is centered on the Vilyuy River in the Sakha Republic.
Dozens of red hot spots, each marking an area where the thermal bands on the instrument detected temperatures higher than normal, are scattered around the image. Some of the hot spots are very large, and in one area they form part of a ring. Such a shape typically indicates that fire has spread outward from a center and is expanding while the fuel in the central area has been consumed. Gray smoke, typical of actively burning fires, rise from the hotspots and blow toward the northeast over most of the image. However, changing wind patterns in different heights of the atmosphere turn the smoke to move in the direction of the wind. A large arc of smoke can be seen in the southeast. This arc may originate with these fires, or from other blazes in the region.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/2/2017
Resolutions:
1km (102.3 KB), 500m (362.8 KB), 250m (970.7 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
