On April 8, 2003, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this image of intense biomass burning across Southeast Asia. At left, Bangladesh is free of fires, while to the east, eastern India is covered by red dots indicating the locations of active fires. Fires are widespread across Myanmar (center), and (top right to bottom) China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. A grayish pall of smoke hangs over most of the area. In the center of the visible portion of Laos, smoke is especially thick. Compare this to a Terra image acquired earlier in the day.

The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.

Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC