Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

Fires and Smoke Engulf Southeastern Australia

NASA Earth Observatory

Jan 06, 2020
Article
Instruments:
Topics:
2020-01-04 00:00:00
January 4, 2020

Forecasters predicted extreme fire conditions in southeastern Australia for the weekend of January 4–5, 2020, and they were correct in their assessment. The natural-color image above was acquired on January 4, 2020, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Smoke has a tan color, while clouds are bright white. It is likely that some of the white patches above the smoke are pyrocumulonimbus clouds—clouds created by the convection and heat rising from a fire.

References & Resources

NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS/LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Text by Michael Carlowicz.

Downloads

2020-01-04 00:00:00

January 4, 2020

JPEG (4.26 MB)

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Ontario Wildfire Smoke Moves East
3 min read

Canadian wildfires sent plumes of smoke streaming over Ontario, Quebec, and parts of the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.

Article
Smoke Streams Across Eastern Washington
3 min read

Wildland fires in early August 2026 pushed air quality to unhealthy levels, destroyed hundreds of structures, and triggered mandatory evacuations…

Article
Cottonwood Fire Chars Utah
5 min read

The blaze burned more than 150 square miles and swept through parts of a ski resort.

Article
Keep Exploring

Discover More from NASA Earth Science

Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters

Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.

Earth Observatory Image of the Day

NASA's Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery.

Explore Earth Science

Earth Science Data

Open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data