Fires in Australia

Fires in Victoria, Australia

31January 2005

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On 30 January 2006, the smoke died down and the clouds cleared over Grampians National Park in western Victoria, Australia. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image revealing the large area burned by a wildfire in previous weeks. Using a combination of visible light and shortwave and near-infrared energy detected by the sensor, this image shows the burned area in bright red and unburned vegetation in bright green. Areas where vegetation is naturally sparse are light tan, sometimes tinged with green or pink.

AQUA
30 January 2006
16:55 hrs UTC

click on image for a 250 m resolution

According to reports from the state government’s Department of Sustainability and theEnvironment, the fire had scorched about 130,000 hectares (1,300 squarekilometers, or about 321,237 acres) as of 30 January.

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