Fires in Central America
Fires in Mexico and Guatemala
20 May 2008
Fires were widespread across southern Mexico and northern Central America in early May 2008. May is the end of the areas dry season, and intentional agricultural fires as well as accidental wildfires are common. In April and early May, fires were mostly restricted to Mexico and Guatemala. In mid-May, widespread burning extended southward into Honduras as well.
AQUA
15 May 2008
Click here to view high-resolution version (4.45 MB)
(source: earth observatory)
This image of the area was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite on 15 May 2008. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are marked in red. Although such fires are not necessarily immediately hazardous, they can have a large impact on air quality and human health, climate, and natural resources.
The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel.