A catalog of NASA images and animations of our home planet

• Credit:

  NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek.

Red boxes outline the locations of several fires burning in southeastern Australia on March 7, 2011. The fires are burning primarily in the dark green forest-covered Australian Alps in Victoria. Though the smoke pouring from the fires makes them appear to be large wildfires, most are controlled burns. The locations of the fires align with a map of planned fires released by the state government of Victoria.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image early in the afternoon on March 7. The large image, which includes a wider area, shows several more small fires burning throughout Victoria and New South Wales.

1. Reference

2. State Government Victoria. (2011, March 7). Current planned burns. Accessed March 7, 2011.

Images & Animations

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• NASA Official: Steven E. Platnick
• Database Updated: May 25, 2013