Fires in Mexico and Central America

Fires in Mexico and Central America

On March 19, 2003, fires in southern Mexico and Central America billowed a cloud of smoke out over the Gulf of Mexico. In this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image, fires have been marked in red, with the highest density occurring in northern Guatemala. Significant fire activity is also visible throughout southern Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula (north), as well as Belize (east of Guatemala), El Salvador and Honduras (west and east, next tier to the south), and Nicaragua.

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 Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC