Portugalâs severe fire season isnât over yet, with new blazes breaking out across the country at the end of the second week of September. With temperatures near 100 degrees F for several days, firefighters face a difficult challenge, particularly in the southern coastal region of Algarve, a popular tourist destination. In this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from September 12, 2003, a large fire was detected and is marked with red at the southwest tip of the country. A long smoke plume trails over the Atlantic from the blaze. Meanwhile, a dust storm is bringing a cloud of dust and sand northward over Morocco and the Atlantic Ocean.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODISâ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.
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Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
