Dozens of fires continue to burn in south-central Russia to the northwest of Lake Baikal, at the southern end of the Central Siberian Plateau. This image from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite was acquired on May 12, 2002.
In the high-resolution imagery, one can see the rectangular patterns of vegetation that suggest human cultivation of the land, as well as dark brown burn scars left by previous or ongoing fires. Another interesting feature is the rapidly retreating ice cover in Lake Baikal. Since May 5, the ice has retreated to the northern corner of the lake, while spring temperatures steal the snow from the surrounding landscape.
Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of this scene at the sensor's fullest resolution, visit the MODIS Rapidfire site.
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Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
