Several large fires were burning in northern and central Portugal on August 13, 2010, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image. The fires are outlined in red. Two groups of large fires were producing plumes of smoke that blew southwest.
In the north, several fires burn in and around Peneda Geres National Park, Portugal’s only national park. The fires forced the evacuation of 50 people from a village in the park, reported BBC News. The second large group of fires is in Serra da Estrela, a mountainous natural park.
Twice-daily images of Portugal are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System.
References & Resources
- BBC News. (2010, August 13). Two firefighters killed tackling forest fires in Spain. Accessed August 13, 2010.
- BBC News. (2010, August 12). Deadly fires rage on in Portugal. Accessed August 13, 2010.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek.
