On May 7, 2004, morning and afternoon overpasses of NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites over South Australia revealed very different fire activity over the course of the day. In the morning, few fires were burning around Spencer Gulf, but by afternoon numerous fire detections were picked up by Aqua MODIS. This diurnal pattern of burning is a common occurrence, and having two MODIS sensors on different satellites allows scientists and land managers to have a more complete picture of regional fire activity than a single sensor would provide.
Image by Earth Observatory staff, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response System at NASA-GSFC
