On August 5, 2004, southern Africa seemed like a continent of fire. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAâs Aqua satellite captured this image of fires across parts of Democratic Republic of Congo (top), Angola (left), and Zimbabwe (right), in south-central Africa.
The widespread nature of the fires and the time of year suggest that these fires are being set intentionally for agricultural purposes. Though not necessarily hazardous, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources.
The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 1-square-kilometer per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions.
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Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
