Widespread Fires in South America

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October 5 12:00:00, 2002JPEG

This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image was captured on October 5, 2002, by NASA’s Terra satellite. The Amazon River stretches across the top of the scene in a brown line, and numerous fires are indicated with red dots in the southern half of the image.

Image by Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA-GSFC

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Instrument:: Terra — MODIS

Widespread Fires in South America

In September and October 2002, numerous fires raged across central South America, choking the skies with thick smoke. These images show parts of Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil.

Image

Fires in South America

Fires were widespread across South America on August 24, 2006, when MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the continent and captured this image. The sensor detected scores of active fires (locations marked in red) in a variety of ecological regions, and thick smoke hung over the land in many places.