Fire activity in Africa south of the Sahara Desert migrates across the continent with the seasons. In the Sahel and savannas just south of the Sahara, the agricultural burning season begins in Norhtern Hemisphere fall and progresses toward a peak of activity in mid-winter. In this image of western Africa, fires (marked in red) have been detected across several West African nations: (clockwise from right center) Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and the Gambia. At top is Mauritania. This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on November 14, 2003.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.
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Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
