On September 26, 2006, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of the still-burning Day Fire in southern California. A thick cloud of smoke spread northward from several actively burning locations (outlined in red), reaching as far as Bakersfield. According to the daily report from the National Interagency Fire Center, the fire had burned an estimated 144,884 acres as of September 27 and was 42 percent contained.

The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides twice-daily images of the area in a variety of additional resolutions and formats.

NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center

Instrument: 

Aqua - MODIS