Fires in East and Central Africa
Fires in East and Central Africa
09 July 2004
Fires were burning across central Africa (Angola, DRC, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia) on 08 July 2004. The widespread nature of the fires and the time of year indicates that these fires are being set intentionally for agricultural purposes. Though not necessarily immediately hazardous, such large-scale burningand the resulting smokecan have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources. The following images were captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS).
08 July 2004
Aqua Satellite
11:45 UTC
(Image based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC)
(Image based on data from the MODISRapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC)
Agricultural burning season was well underway in central Africa as of July 8,2004, when this image was captured by the ModerateResolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite. West of Lake Tanganyika (right) hundreds, possibly thousands of fireswere detected by MODIS and have been marked in this scene in yellow. The smallsmoke plumes from so many fires mingles into a layer of haze across theleft-hand portion of the image (Source: EarthObservatory).
For background information on theFire Situation in Africa see:
RegionalWildland Fire Networks (AfriFireNet) and
IFFN Country Reports on CentralAfrican countries
