In July 2013, an intense heat wave in central Russia fueled an outbreak of wildfire in the taiga forests of Siberia. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of thick smoke from the fires over the Khanty-Mansiyskiy and Yamal-Nenetskiy districts of Russia on July 29, 2013. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fire. The image is centered near 68.9° East longitude and 61.5° North latitude.
Further Reading
- Discover (2013, July 28) North Pole Isn’t Melting. But Parts of Siberia Baking & Burning. Accessed July 29, 2013.
- ITAR-TASS (2013, July 22) Forest fires in Russia reach about 53,000 hectares radius. Accessed July 29, 2013.
- Kosmosnimki (2013, July 29) Fire Map. Accessed July 29, 2013.
- Ozone Mapping & Profile Suite (2013, July 28) Smoke over Russia. Accessed July 29, 2013.
- Weather Underground (2013, July 22) Heat Wave Continues in Siberia. Accessed July 29, 2013.
References & Resources
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Adam Voiland.












