This SeaWiFS true-color image acquired over Southern Africa on Sept.
4, 2000, shows a thick shroud of smoke and haze blanketing much of the
southern half of the continent. The smoke in this scene is being
generated by a tremendous number of fires burning over a large area
across the countries of Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana,
and the Northern Province of South Africa. In this image, the smoke
(grey pixels) is easily distinguished from clouds (bright white pixels).
Refer to the Images & Data section for a larger scale view of the
fires in Southern Africa.
Data from both the SeaWiFS
and Terra satellites are being used by
an international team of scientists participating in the SAFARI field
experiment. The objective of SAFARI is to measure the effects of
windblown smoke and dust on air quality and the Earth's radiant energy
budget.
This image was produced using SeaWiFS channels 6, 5, and 1 (centered
at 670 nm, 555 nm , and 412 nm, respectively). The data were acquired
and provided by the Satellite Applications Center in Pretoria, South
Africa.
Image courtesy Gene Feldman, SeaWiFS Project and Orbital Sciences