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.

Forest fires continue to spring up across Portugal (left) in the second week of August. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on August 12, 2003, shows dozens of actively burning fires marked in red and a pall of smoke hanging over the country. The fires in the south have been difficult to control, with rapidly shifting winds moving the flames erratically. A few active fire detections were made by MODIS in northwest Spain as well.

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

    2003-08-12

  • Event Start Date

    2003-07-27

  • NH Image ID

    11156

  • NH Event ID

    9203

  • NH Posting Date

    2003-08-13