Fires in Argentina

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Monday, 14 July 2008, 07:02 CDT Download full size image

This image, captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite, shows a multitude of fires in South America on July 5, 2008. The red dots show the locations of the active fires in the region, most of which are in Argentina. In some cases, plumes of gray smoke are visible rising from the fires.

The fires are agricultural in nature - in the many parts of South America, biomass burning is concentrated during the months of July-October. One such use of fire is to deforest areas and convert them to agricultural land. In the image, isolated patches of intact forest appear deep green, while agricultural lands and tropical savannas appear lighter green.

The body of water just south of the fires is Mar Chiquita, a huge salt water lagoon in Argentina.

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