April 2, 2004
On April 2, 2004, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite passed over Western Australia and snapped this image scattered fires (marked in red). The majority of the fires are small and located away from dense vegetation (which appears deep brownish-green). This pattern, as well as the season, suggests that these are agricultural fires being set for land management purposes. The smoky fires in the south, however, may be a different type of fire, perhaps wildfires or prescribed burns.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at
References & Resources
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC
