February 9, 2021 - Fires in Ethopia and South Sudan

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   Fires in Ethopia and South Sudan
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   Many dozens of fires were burning across Ethiopia and South Sudan on
   February 8, 2021 when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of
   the region. Each red “hot spot” marks an area where the thermal bands
   on the instrument detected temperatures higher than background. When
   combined with typical smoke—as in this image—such hot spots mark
   actively burning fires.

   These fires are part of a long band of fire that stretches across the
   African continent, from Senegal to Eritrea. Such fires follow a
   pattern: after seasonal rains diminish in November, fires begin to
   increase across Africa especially in the Sahel region. The numbers of
   fires increase slowly, typically increasing in number sometime in
   January. In March, the fires begin to diminish as the rains return.

   These seasonal fires are primarily agricultural blazes—fires that are
   deliberately set to manage land. Agricultural fires serve a variety of
   purposes. It is often used to open new savanna, grassland, or forest
   into cropland or pasture. In established fields, fire is an easy tool
   used to clear stubble and waste at the end of a growing season and to
   return nutrients to the soil. Pastureland is sometimes renewed by
   burning, as it clears the field of unwanted weeds and encourages fresh
   growth of forage.

   While fire is a commonly used tool in traditional agriculture, it can
   produce tremendous amounts of smoke that can harm the health of both
   human and animals. Fire may also slip out of control to create wildfire
   that may damage large areas. Widespread use of fire in “slash-and-burn”
   practices is a major factor in deforestation across the Earth.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 2/8/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (100.8 KB),  500m (333.1 KB),  250m (1.1 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-02-09
 
