A large number of fires have been burning out of control for weeks now in eastern Russia, producing a tremendous amount of smoke. In this true-color SeaWiFS image, acquired on May 19, 2003, the thick smoke (gray pixels, darker in appearance than the relatively brighter, whiter clouds in region) almost completely obscures the land surface over much of northeastern Asia. In addition to presenting a potentially serious respiratory hazard to local residents, the smoke pollution also presents a significant navigation hazard to air traffic flying to and from the region.
Image provided by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project, NASA-GSFC, and ORBIMAGE
