In this activity, you can view the Earth from the unique perspective of outer space. You will examine monthly snapshots (or global datasets) of our planetıs surface and atmosphere. During this activity, you will investigate complex interaction of the Earthıs lands and life by looking for patterns and changes over time of fires. You will make connections to global environmental issues.

Background:
These fire data, derived from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) measurements, show the number of 4.4 square kilometer pixels in each half-degree grid cell (each cell is 2500 square kilometers at the equator) that are hot enough to contain a large fire.

These data, summarized for each month, are currently being used to monitor natural and man-made fires in the Tropical and Sub-tropical zones (+/- 40° from the equator). Forest and savanna fires in the tropics are known to affect both regional and global climate, ecology, biodiversity, and air quality. (Courtesy L. Giglio & J. Kendall, SSAI; data from TRMM VIRS)

Questions:

1. From August 99 to February 00, are the locations of fires significantly different?
    
    
2. Why might the locations of fires change as a function of season?
    
    

Links:

1. Global Fire Monitoring (http://Earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalFire/)
    
2. Evolving in the Presence of Fire (http://Earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BOREASFire/)
    
3. A Burning Question (http://Earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BurningQuestion/)
    
4. NASA Demonstrates New Technology for Monitoring Fire from Space (http://Earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Fire/)
    

next activity (#11): Comparing vegetation to landcover classification from January to December 1998
previous activity (#9): Comparing outgoing heat radiation to cloud fraction during the period of February 1988 to February 1990