In eastern Columbia (left) and northern Venezuela (right), a vast stretch of plains called the Llanos rests at the eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite detected numerous fires (red dots) scattered across the region, even in wetland areas between two of the Llanos? majors rivers: the Apure (running from center toward the right of the image) and the Meta (flowing northeast from bottom left).
Where the Meta leaves the Columbia-Venezuela border, it is joined by the Atabapo River and becomes the Orinoco, which flows out to meet the Atlantic. In the high-resolution imagery, dark purplish-brown burn scars are apparent against the green vegetation of the prairies. At bottom right, the grasses of the llanos give way to the upper reaches of the Amazon Rainforest. This image was captured December 12, 2002.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
