Images
October 13, 2017 - Fires in Portugal
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Widespread drought in Portugal has been the main culprit in the spate of dangerous wildfires that have plagued the country this past summer. On October 8, over 1,000 firefighters were battling five wildfires across the country with many, many smaller fires also burning but not enough manpower to fight them all.
An unusual phenomenon, a fire devil, was captured on camera by a Portuguese camera crew near Arganil. A fire devil is a weather phenomenon that is formed when dust and flames are caught by the wind and create a spiral around a core of ash. This phenomenon can last for an hour or more and generate wind speeds in excess of 100 mph. Like a regular tornado, a fire tornado is extremely dangerous, but unlike a regular tornado, one built on fire will incinerate anything in its path.
This summer has been particularly bad for wildfires in Portugal, in fact, in August, the Civil Protection Agency recorded a single day record for the year of 268 separate fires. The agency added in its reporting that 90 per cent of the fires were either intentionally or accidentally started by people.
Wildfires in Portugal this year have accounted for more than one-third of all wildfires that have broken out in the European Union.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of fire and smoke across Portugal on October 7.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/7/2017
Resolutions:
1km (85.3 KB), 500m (326 KB), 250m (890.4 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Widespread drought in Portugal has been the main culprit in the spate of dangerous wildfires that have plagued the country this past summer. On October 8, over 1,000 firefighters were battling five wildfires across the country with many, many smaller fires also burning but not enough manpower to fight them all.
An unusual phenomenon, a fire devil, was captured on camera by a Portuguese camera crew near Arganil. A fire devil is a weather phenomenon that is formed when dust and flames are caught by the wind and create a spiral around a core of ash. This phenomenon can last for an hour or more and generate wind speeds in excess of 100 mph. Like a regular tornado, a fire tornado is extremely dangerous, but unlike a regular tornado, one built on fire will incinerate anything in its path.
This summer has been particularly bad for wildfires in Portugal, in fact, in August, the Civil Protection Agency recorded a single day record for the year of 268 separate fires. The agency added in its reporting that 90 per cent of the fires were either intentionally or accidentally started by people.
Wildfires in Portugal this year have accounted for more than one-third of all wildfires that have broken out in the European Union.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of fire and smoke across Portugal on October 7.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/7/2017
Resolutions:
1km (85.3 KB), 500m (326 KB), 250m (890.4 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
