In northern Washington, two large fires were burning on July 25, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this image. The location of the Tripod and Tin Pan Fires are outlined in red. Winds appear to have been blowing eastward at the time of the image; smoke blows east over the Columbia River.
According to reports from the National Interagency Fire Center on July 26, the Tripod Fire was 1,000 acres and was burning in rugged terrain with lots of dead and down fuel. The Tin Pan Fire was about 2,800 acres and was burning rapidly through timber. The Tin Pan Fire was triggered by lightning and was being allowed to burn according to a natural resource management plan.
The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. It is a mosaic of two satellite images captured about two hours apart. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images of the area in a variety of resolutions and formats.
References & Resources
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.
