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During the dry season, when many fires are lit
to burn crop residue on agricultural fields, mainland Southeast
Asia is one of the hot spots of the world! The MODIS sensor is keeping
a watchful eye on the situation, detecting nearly every major fire
in the region and elsewhere around the globe, as shown in the global
composite image.
The first MODIS picture is a composite image that
shows the location of all the fires in the eastern hemisphere during
the period of January 1 to January 10, 2007. Each colored dot shows
the location that the MODIS on either the Terra or Aqua satellite
detected at least one fire during this period. Colors range from
red where the fire count is low to yellow where number of fires
is large. Many of the fires (like those in Cambodia) are agricultural.
A detailed view of the region shows the location
of fires in the afternoon of January 28, 2007. The dry season generally
spans the period of November to April, and during that time, people
light many agriculture fires across the region. The causes vary;
some fires are set to burn pasture lands in anticipation of new
growth from summer rains; others are set to clear parts of the forested
land through slash-and-burn agriculture; and some fires are accidental.
Although agricultural fires are not necessarily immediately hazardous,
such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate,
human health, and natural resources. The high-resolution image showing
the Mekong and Tole Sap rivers has a spatial resolution of 250 meters.
The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images
of the area in a variety of resolutions and formats: see the Indochina
subset.
Image Credit: MODIS Rapid Response Team.
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