At the northern end of the stony deserts scattered across the Ustyurt Plateau between the Caspian Sea (left edge) and the Aral Sea (right) in southern Kazakhstan, several large fires were detected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on June 20, 2004. Areas where the sensor detected active fires are marked in red. The western group of fires is divided in the center by the Emba River, which flows southwestward toward the Caspian Sea.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC
