Fires in the Yucatan and Central America
Fires in the Yucatan and Central America
10 May 2006
Fires on the Yucatan Peninsula cast a pall of smoke over the Gulf of Mexico on 10 May 2006, veiling its dark blue waters with a dingy white haze. The forests at the tip of the Yucatan suffered damage from Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Although it is impossible to tell how the fires started from the satellite image, May is near the end of the regions dry season, when fires are common. Many fires are intentionally set to clear land for agriculture, but some may also be accidental or natural fires.
This image centered on the Yucatan Peninsula was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Terra satellite, and places where the sensor detected fires are marked with red dots. Grayish smoke hangs over the scene, drifting northward over the Gulf of Mexico.
TERRA
10 May 2006
The fires have been marked with red in this photo-like image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite on 8 May 2006.
AQUA
8 May 2006
Although a dense cluster of fires on the eastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula is producing a thick cloud of smoke, much of the haze appears to be coming from fires burning throughout southern Mexico and Central America.
A large cluster of fires, outlined in red, was sending up thick smoke from the eastern tip of thepeninsula on the image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite on 6 May 2006.
AQUA
6 May 2006
(source: EarthObservatory)
