Fires in Victoria, Australia
Fires in Australia
12 December 2006
The current situation in Australia is covered by a number of detailedreports (see GFMC Media web page):
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The ghosts of an enchanted forest demand answers (published by www.smh.com.au, 11 December 2006)
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Bushfire Smoke Blankets Major Australian City (published by www.planetark.com, 11 December 2006)
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Haze over Melbourne from bush fires (published by www.newstalkzb.co.nz, 11 December 2006)
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Fear in the wind: heat taunts bush (published by www.theage.com.au, 11 December 2006)
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Easing bushfire threat ‘lull before storm’ (published by www.theaustralian.news.com.auu, 11 December 2006)
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Commissioner rejects calls for Blue Mountains fires inquiry (published by www.abc.net.au, 11 December 2006)
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Acrid smoke triggers panic, alarms (published by www.theage.com.au, 10 December 2006)
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Danger builds in southeast (published by www.news.com.au, 10 December 2006)
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Two homes lost as Vic bushfires rage (published by www.theage.com.au, 10 December 2006)
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Towns at fire risk (published by www.news.com.au, 10 December 2006)
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Fire battle as Tassie scorches (published by www.news.com.au, 10 December 2006)
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Forests not looked after (published by www.bordermail.com.au, 9 December 2006)
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Smoke blankets Australian state (published by news.bbc.co.uk, 9 December 2006)
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Premier defends bushfire policy (published by www.news.com.au, 8 December 2006)
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Australia Sends in Military to Help Fight Bushfires (published by www.planetark.com, 8 December 2006)
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NZ firefighters join Vic bushfire battle (published by www.abc.net.au, 8 December 2006)
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Bushfires could stretch 100km (published by www.news.com.au, 8 December 2006)
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Firefighters brace for bad weekend in Victoria (published by www.abc.net.au, 7 December 2006)
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Rescuers say koalas survive NSW bushfire (published by www.theage.com.au, 6 December 2006)
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Vic bushfires rage (published by www.skynews.com.au, 6 December 2006)
Fires in Victoria
Between Lake Eildon and the Dartmouth Reservoir in Victoria, Australia, dozens of active fires churned out thick clouds of smoke in early December. In remote, rugged terrain in the Great Dividing Range Mountains, firefighters battled the blazes in hot, windy conditions. This image of the area was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite on 10 December 2006. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fire are marked with redoutlines.
AQUA
10 December 2006 
The smoke pours southeast over the Bass Strait. Puffy towers of clouds are embedded in the smoke; these clouds may be the result of strong updrafts and aerosols(particles in the air that can act as seeds for cloud droplets) produced by the firesthemselves, or they may be part of the larger-scale weather pattern over thearea. The next day, a swath of clouds over the region may have provided some relief forfirefighters.
The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters perpixel.
(source: EarthObservatory).
