A fire burning at an industrial sulfur processing facility innorthern Iraq at the junction of the Tigris (flowing in from North) andGreat Zab (northeast) Rivers billowed white smoke over Iraq and otherMiddle Eastern countries beginning on June 25, 2003. The fire continued toburn for two weeks, spreading the sulfur-containing smoke over awide area. According to local media reports, the smoke was responsible forcrop damage and other environmental problems as well as respiratorydistress among people in the area. The fire was still burning as of July 3, 2003, when this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Aqua satellite was captured.
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 Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
