Fires across Angola and the Dem. Republic of the Congo (morning overpass)

Thousands of smoky fires (red dots) were burning across Democratic Republic of Congo (top right) and Angola (bottom left) on May 10, 2004. These images and the fire detections were captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite in the morning and Aqua satellite during its afternoon overpass of central Africa.

The widespread nature of the fires, their location (generally located away from remaining natural vegetation, which appears deeper green), and the time of year suggest that these fires are being set intentionally for agricultural purposes. Though not necessarily immediately hazardous, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources.

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Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published May 10, 2004
Data acquired May 10, 2004

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Collections:

MODIS Rapid Response

Visible Earth