Smoke from Alaska wildfires across northwestern Canada

Northwestern Canada felt the effects as Alaska and Yukon Territory burned in late August 2005. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard the Aqua satellite captured this image on August 23, 2005.

In this image, a pale gray cloud of smoke several hundred kilometers long sweeps through the Northwest Territories toward the southeast, obscuring the view of the western edge of Great Bear Lake. The smoke dips into the province of Alberta (bottom center) before turning northeast. It changes direction again to head southward over Saskatchewan and Manitoba (bottom right). Clouds—distinct from the smoke because they are pure white—surround the snaking cloud of smoke and block out the view of eastern Canada.

Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published August 25, 2005
Data acquired August 23, 2005

Source:

Aqua > MODIS