Images
July 1, 2023 - Fires in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia
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A shroud of smoke covered Democratic Republic of Congo (north) and Zambia (south) in late June 2023. On June 30 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) acquired a true-color image of the source of the smoke—dozens of fires burning across the region.
Each red dot marks a location where the thermal bands on the MODIS instrument detected high temperatures. When accompanied by typical smoke, as in this image, such “hot spots” are diagnostic for actively burning fire.
While it is not possible to know the cause of a fire from a satellite image, the widespread nature of the fires, their location, and the time of year all suggest that people are intentionally setting most of these fires for agricultural purposes. Although not necessarily immediately hazardous on a small scale, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/29/2023
Resolutions:
1km (358.2 KB), 500m (786.7 KB), 250m (483.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
A shroud of smoke covered Democratic Republic of Congo (north) and Zambia (south) in late June 2023. On June 30 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) acquired a true-color image of the source of the smoke—dozens of fires burning across the region.
Each red dot marks a location where the thermal bands on the MODIS instrument detected high temperatures. When accompanied by typical smoke, as in this image, such “hot spots” are diagnostic for actively burning fire.
While it is not possible to know the cause of a fire from a satellite image, the widespread nature of the fires, their location, and the time of year all suggest that people are intentionally setting most of these fires for agricultural purposes. Although not necessarily immediately hazardous on a small scale, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/29/2023
Resolutions:
1km (358.2 KB), 500m (786.7 KB), 250m (483.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
