Portugal’s severe fire season isn’t over yet, with new blazes breaking out across the country at the end of the second week of September. With temperatures near 100 degrees F for several days, firefighters face a difficult challenge, particularly in the southern coastal region of Algarve, a popular tourist destination. In this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from September 12, 2003, a large fire was detected and is marked with red at the southwest tip of the country. A long smoke plume trails over the Atlantic from the blaze. Meanwhile, a dust storm is bringing a cloud of dust and sand northward over Morocco and the Atlantic Ocean.
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 Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
