A catalog of NASA images and animations of our home planet

• Credit:

  Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

On January 28, 2002, MODIS detected several fires burning in the African countries of Uganda (top center) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (left), and the smoke from these fires is partially obscuring Lake Albert, Lake Edward, and Lake Kivu (in order from top to bottom). The grayish cast to Lake Tanganyika to the south and Lake Victoria, to the east is due more to sunglint than smoke. These lakes all fall along Africa's Great Rift Valley, where three tectonic plates are pulling away from one another: two different segments of the African Plate, and the Arabian plate. To the southeast of Lake Victoria, is the famous Serengeti Plain in Tanzania.

Images & Animations

• Webmaster: Paul Przyborski
• NASA Official: Steven E. Platnick
• Database Updated: May 6, 2013