Fires in Mexico and Central America

Fires in Mexico and Central America

Fires continue to rage across southern Mexico (left), the Yucatan Peninsula (center), and Central America, especially Guatemala (south of Mexico.) The fires have been burning off and on for more than a month, periodically sending a river of smoke northward across the Gulf of Mexico toward Cuba and the southern United States. This image of the fires (red dots) was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on April 18, 2003.

The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC