Suggested Searches

1 min read

Fires on Cape York Peninsula and New Guinea

Instruments:
Topics:
Fires on Cape York Peninsula and New Guinea
October 8, 2004

A large fire on the Cape York Peninsula of northern Queensland, Australia, continued to spread on October 8, 2004. The area burned by the fire appears deep brown, and the actively burning portions of the fire that were detected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite have been marked in red. Having burned almost all the way to the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria (left), the eastern edge appears to have become more active on this day (compared to images from previous days). Other fires are scattered in locations across the peninsula, and numerous fires were detected on New Guinea, at top center of the image. The bright turquoise line of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef follows the west coast of the peninsula.

References & Resources

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.

Smoke Streams Across Eastern Washington
3 min read

Wildland fires in early August 2026 pushed air quality to unhealthy levels, destroyed hundreds of structures, and triggered mandatory evacuations…

Article
Fighting Fire With Fire
3 min read

In fire-prone ecosystems in Australia's Northern Territory, prescribed burns are lit to minimize the severity of fires later in the…

Article
Peatland Fires Darken Skies in Indonesia
6 min read

With Indonesia gripped by drought, fires are smoldering on the surface and underground.

Article