Fires across Central Africa

  • Credit

    Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) detected over 7,000 fires burning in Central Africa on December 7, 2003. The fires, which have been marked with red dots, cover Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad across the top, from left to right; Central African Republic, right center; and Democratic Republic of the Congo, lower right. Fire is a common land management tool, and the widespread nature of these fires suggests that these were probably deliberately set to clear land. The rainforests of the Congo region are dark green along the bottom of the image. The grasslands of the Sahel are a lighter green and tan in the top half of the image.

Metadata

  • Sensor

    Aqua/MODIS

  • Visualization Date

    2003-12-08