Snow is shown retreating from a small portion of southeastern Russia in this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Aqua satellite from March 18, 2003. Where it has retreated, fires (red dots) are already burning, likely the result of early growing-season activities for farmers in the region. In many parts of the world, fire is used as a resource management tool, clearing land for planting, renewing pastures, and returning the remains of the previous season’s vegetation to the soil as nutrients. At upper left in the image, ice appears to be thinning in a few places over Lake Baikal.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.
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Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
