Forest Fires in Portugal

Less than a month after firefighters in Portugal contained dozens of devestating wildfires, new ones were burning on September 13, 2003, and are pictured in this Aqua MODIS image.

Firefighters in Portugal have brought most of the severe fires that were plaguing the country over the last week under control, but high temperatures, gusty winds, and the threat of electrical storms this coming weekend mean the danger has not yet passed, and a few of the fires still burning (marked with red dots in this image) are proving difficult to contain. This image of the fires was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on August 7, 2003. Fires are scattered across northern Portugal (left) and Spain (right), while a large burn scar is evident in central Portugal (see false-color image).

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.

Metadata

  • Sensor

    Aqua/MODIS

  • Start Date

    2003-08-07

  • Event Start Date

    2003-07-27

  • NH Image ID

    11146

  • NH Event ID

    9203

  • NH Posting Date

    2003-08-08