As winter snow is retreating, fires are springing to life in southwestern Russia. Fires are likely being set to prepare land for springtime agricultural activities. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from March 2, 2003, shows fires (red dots) detected by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite. Fires are burning in the Volga River Delta (right of center) at the northwest corner of the Caspian Sea. To the west, near the Sea of Azov (filled with ice at center left) and the Black Sea (bottom left) more fires are burning. Two additional fires were detected at the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, which separate Russia from Georgia. At upper left is Ukraine; at upper right is Kazakhstan.
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
