With dozens of wildfires burning in a part of Russia best known for its frigid winters, the CALIPSO satellite offered this view through the clouds and smoke.
This photo-like image from August 4, 2010, shows intense fires burning across central Russia and a thick plume of smoke stretching about 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles).
Russian wildfires sent smoke over the Kamchatka Peninsula and Pacific Ocean in late April 2008. At this time of year, the fires are probably a combination of intentional agricultural fires and accidental human-caused wildfires. Fires south of Lake Baikal and north of the Amur River produced smoke plumes hundreds of kilometers long.