![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080921085953im_/http://veimages.gsfc.nasa.gov//15005/samerica_no2_nofires_print.0430_web.thumb.png)
Images & Animations
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Credit
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Biomass Burning over South America
Biomass burning is the burning of living and dead vegetation. It includes the human-initiated burning of vegetation for land clearing and land-use change as well as natural, lightning-induced fires. Scientists estimate that humans are responsible for about 90% of biomass burning with only a small percentage of natural fires contributing to the total amount of vegetation burned. Burning vegetation releases large amounts of particulates (solid carbon combustion particles) and gases, including greenhouse gases that help warm the Earth. Studies suggest that biomass burning has increased on a global scale over the last 100 years, and computer calculations indicate that a hotter Earth resulting from global warming will lead to more frequent and larger fires. Biomass burning particulates impact climate and can also affect human health when they are inhaled, causing respiratory problems. Here are three images of South America on October 7, 2004. The first image is shows clouds and fires on that day. The second image is clouds and Nitrous Dioxide (NO2) concentations in the stratosphere. The last image overlays the fires on the NO2 data.
Aura measures NO2 concentration over South America on October 7, 2004
Metadata
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Sensor
Aura/OMI -
Animation ID
3075 -
Video ID
NONE -
Start Timecode
00:00:00:00 -
End Timecode
00:00:00:00 -
Animator
Lori Perkins, Greg Shirah -
Studio
SVS -
Visualization Date
2004/12/09 -
Scientist
Ernest Hilsenrath (NASA/GSFC), Mark Schoeberl (NASA/GSFC), Pepijn Veefkind (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute KNMI) -
Datasets
MODIS Fire Pixels -
Keywords
fires, biomass, burning,stratosphere -
DLESE Subject
atmospheric science -
Data Date
2004/10/07 -
Pao ID
G04-064 -
Animation Type
Stills