Fires in Northern Territory and Queensland

Fires in Northern Territory and Queensland

27 November 2006

---

In late spring 2006, Australia appeared to be in the midst ofan active fire season. Throughout the month of November, the Moderate ResolutionImaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) onNASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites captured numerous images of fires burning in northern Queensland’s CapeYork Peninsula, southernQueensland, NewSouth Wales, and northwesternAustralia. This image shows fires and large burn scars near the border ofNorthern Territory and Queensland on November 27, 2006. Places where Aqua MODISdetected actively burning fires are marked in red. Burned areas appear deepbrown compared to the tan colors of the tropical savannas that dominate thelandscape of the region.

Fires, both natural and human-caused, have been part of the ecosystem herefor hundreds, probably thousands of years. Traditional Aboriginal land owners,as well as private and government land owners, use fire to manage agriculturaland natural ecosystems in the area. Use of prescribed fire early in the seasonreduces the risk of more severe fires later in summer.

AQUA
27 November  2006

The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters perpixel. 

(source: EarthObservatory).

---

 

Back