After a week of intense efforts by thousands of firefighters, the blazes that swept across Portugal in the beginning of August appear to be coming under control. Compared to images captured at the height of the fires? activity, this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite captured on August 6, 2003, shows fewer active fire detections (red dots) and much less smoke. When the skies clear over the terrain in the center of the image (under the smoke and clouds), a large burn scar will become visible.
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 Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Less than a month after firefighters in Portugal contained dozens of devestating wildfires, new ones were burning on September 13, 2003, and are pictured in this Aqua MODIS image.
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