Fires in southern Mexico

  • Credit

    Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite detected several fires burning along Mexico’s southwestern coast on May 8, 2004. The fires, marked with red dots, are probably agricultural fires set to clear land for farming. The smooth, silvery surface of Lake de Chapala is visible in left of center. In the Pacific Ocean, the reflection of the sun on the water is forming a bright white circle in which the diagonal lines marking the beginning and the end of the rotation of MODIS’ double-sided scan mirror are visible.

Metadata

  • Sensor

    Terra/MODIS

  • Visualization Date

    2004-05-19