On Monday, March 31, 2003, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite captured this image of the Middle East. In the center of the image, several thermal detections were made by MODIS in and around Baghdad and are marked with red dots. The dark plumes of smoke associated with the hot spots suggest they are oil fires. Meanwhile, to the south, dust once again is blowing over southern Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Persian Gulf.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The close up is a cut out of the larger, 250-meter image, provided by the MODIS Rapid Response System.
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
