Fires in Mexico and Northern Central America

Fires in Mexico and Northern Central America

Southern Mexico and northern Central America experience a dry season that runs from roughly February through May each year. During that time, fires are common, both intentional agriculture-related fires as well as accidental forest fires. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on April 24, 2008, shows scores of fires (locations marked in red) burning across the Yucatan Peninsula and northern Guatemala.

The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily images of the region in additional resolutions and formats.

NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.