Fires in USA

Fires in Southern Russia

9 April 2008

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On 7 April 2008, a dusting of snow lingered over the mountainous terrain west of the city of Chita in southern Russia, but spring fires were burning in abundance in the lower elevations. Places where the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite detected fires are marked in red.

AQUA
7 April 2008

Click here to view high-resolution version (3.22 MB)

(source: earth observatory)

A relatively strong wind is carrying smoke plumes from the fires to the southeast. The smoke is slightly grayer than surrounding clouds. It is early in the spring season for naturally ignited wildfires to be occurring in the region’s forests, which suggests that these fires are either intentional fires for agriculture or forest management, or accidental forest fires.

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