Spring is progressing and fires are increasing across eastern China and southeastern Russia in late April 2004. This image from the 28th shows widespread fire activity—probably agricultural—across the two countries. Active fire detections made by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite have been marked in the scene in yellow.
The widespread nature of the fires and the time of year suggests these fires are being set intentionally for agricultural purposes like pasture and farmland clearing. Though not necessarily immediately hazardous, such burning can have a strong impact on climate, weather, human health, and natural resources.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at
References & Resources
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
