Fires in Arizona and New Mexico

Fires in Arizona and New Mexico

In the mountains northeast of Tucson, Arizona, the remains of the Aspen Fire blacken the landscape on July 26, 2003. In the mountainous terrain, surviving vegetation is green and the burned area is charcoal. The crisscrossing streets of Tucson appear as purples lines at bottom left. This image of the burn scar was captured by the Advanced Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra satellite.

Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from Elsa Abbott and the ASTER Science Team.