February 25, 2021 - Fires in Southeast Asia

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   Fires in SE Asia
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   A pall of gray smoke from many dozens of fires hung over Southeast Asia
   in late February 2021.

   The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board
   NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the smokey scene
   on February 24. Each red “hot spot” marks an area where the thermal
   bands on the MODIS instrument detected high temperatures. When combined
   with typical smoke, such hot spots are diagnostic for actively burning
   fire.

   The number of fires, their location along forest edges and in
   non-forested land, and time of year all suggest that most of the fires
   agricultural in nature. Using fire to manage agricultural land, or to
   clear forests for use as cropland or pasture, is a traditional tool
   used for agriculture in many places in the world, including Southeast
   Asia. The countries that have fires burning include (clockwise from
   left), Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.

   Smoke, especially if heavy or long-standing, can negatively impact the
   health of humans and animals. In addition, vegetation fires may release
   greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous
   oxide, methane, non-methane hydrocarbons and other chemicals, including
   aerosols. Each of these can impact radiative budget, air quality and
   health both locally and in the region.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 2/24/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (550 KB),  500m (1.9 MB),  250m (5.8 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=2021-02-25
 
