Widlfires and Haze over Borneo

Widlfires and Haze over Borneo

Haze from fires is thick over the Indonesian island of Borneo. Scores of wildfires (red dots) were detected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on August 19, 2002. The region has recurring trouble with smoke and pollutants from wildfires, which are often the result of slash-and-burn agriculture. In addition to being a health hazard, the smoke can disrupt air traffic, as it did recently in Malaysia, on the northwest portion of Borneo.

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