Fires and smoke in Southeast Australia

A break in the weather has given firefighters in southeast Australia a much-needed hand as January winds to a close. After weeks of battling scores of fires in the remote and often inaccessible terrain of the Great Dividing Range Mountains of southeastern New South Wales and northeastern Victoria, firefighters were handed a little rain, calmer winds, and a drop in temperatures.

More than a million acres of have been scorched by the blazes, and true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Terra satellite on January 31, 2003, shows the extent of the burned area. Unburned vegetation is deep green, while burned areas are dark brown, and areas of naturally low vegetation (or bare soil) are tan. Active fires are marked with red dots.

---

Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published January 31, 2003
Data acquired January 31 - 31, 2003

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Topic:

Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Fires

Collections:

MODIS Rapid Response

Visible Earth