Fires in Victoria continued to rage on December 20, 2006. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra shows smoke swirling over the state and spreading westward over Melbourne. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. These fires have been burning since the beginning of the month, as dry, hot, windy conditions prevailed across the region. Although this part of Victoria is largely national parks and other natural areas, there are many small towns and communities scattered throughout the region that have been endangered by the fires.
The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily images of the area in a variety of resolutions and formats.
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NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.
