Fires in Northeastern Australia

On the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia, numerous active fires (red dots) continue to blacken the landscape. A long, fierce drought, likely brought on by El Niño, has been devastating the region for months. A return to normal rainfall patterns is expected early in 2003. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on December 12, 2002.

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Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published December 19, 2002
Data acquired December 11 - 11, 2002

Source:

Aqua > MODIS

Topics:

Atmosphere > Atmospheric Phenomena > Drought

Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Fires

Collection:

MODIS Rapid Response