Fires in the U.S. Southeast

The Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies on NASA's Aqua satellite acquired this image of fires burning in the U.S. southeast on March 18 at 1900 UTC (3 p.m. EDT). Fires are indicated by red dots and can be seen burning in northern Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and extreme southeastern Tennessee. On-line Athens (Georgia) news and Associated Press reported on March 19 that firefighters in two counties battled grass and yard fires this weekend. Those fires were burning in Barrow and Jackson counties. According to the article, Georgia has less than 7,000 wildfires annually and peak fire season in the state runs from February through May. So far 22 square miles in the Southern Georgia grasslands, forest and swamplands have burned this year in 1,627 fires.

MODIS data from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites are acquired from each satellite twice daily. These four daily MODIS fire observations serve operational fire management needs while also advancing global monitoring of the fire process and its effects on ecosystems, the atmosphere, and climate.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/usa/soeast-us-20110321.html