Fires in Arizona and New Mexico

Northeast of Tucson, Arizona, the Aspen Fire (large cluster of pixels southwest of center) still had several actively burning regions on June 24, 2003. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Terra satellite on that day shows active fire locations marked with red outlines. After six days of extreme fire conditions (high temperatures, gusty winds, low humidity), firefighters were predicted to get a break on Wednesday, with fire conditions becoming more moderate as winds calmed somewhat. As of Tuesday, June 24, when this image was captured, the fire had grown to more than 20,000 acres.

Also visible in the image is the Helen’s 2 Fire, which was started by lightning on June 17. That fire is roughly 35 percent contained, and is to the south of the Aspen Fire in Arizona. In the full scene, several other fires are visible in New Mexico, to the east of Arizona. In the far upper left of the image, the Powell Fire is burning on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

---

Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published June 24, 2003
Data acquired June 24 - 24, 2003

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Topic:

Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Fires

Collections:

MODIS Rapid Response

Visible Earth