Fires in Brazil and Bolivia

Fires were burning across Brazil and Bolivia on September 23, 2003. Fire is commonly used to clear land for agriculture or to maintain pasture in the region.

Hundreds—possibly thousands—of active fire detections were made by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on August 31, 2003, across western Brazil (top right) and Bolivia (bottom left). These fires, marked with red dots, are billowing smoke which hangs over the terrain, nearly obscuring it in some places.

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

    2003-08-31

  • Event Start Date

    2003-08-11

  • NH Image ID

    11675

  • NH Event ID

    9629

  • NH Posting Date

    2003-09-04