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California Wildfires Continue To Burn Out Of Control

Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are outlined in red.
by Laura Spector Motel
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 03, 2008
Numerous wildfires continue to burn out of control throughout California. Many of these fires were ignited in late June by dry lighting and made worse by parched conditions and a lack of rainfall, fire officials report.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of several of the blazes as it passed over California on June 30, 2008. This image specifically shows the fires burning in the area south of Monterey, some of the state's largest according to fire officials.

Active fires are outlined in red. Smoke can also be seen billowing north up the California coastline.

According to news reports, about 364,600 acres, or almost 570 square miles, of land throughout the state have already burned, and most of the blazes have not yet been contained.

Skies in the north were mostly cloudy when NASA's Aqua satellite passed over California on June 30, 2008, but the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor was able to get this cloud-free shot of Southern California showing fires burning south of Monterey.

Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are outlined in red.

Smoke spreads north up the coast. The two fires pictured are among the largest of scores of fires burning in the state. According to the July 1 report from the National Interagency Fire Center, the Indians Fire was 81,378 acres and 95 percent contained; the Basin Complex Fire was 39,906 acres and 3 percent contained.

The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel.

The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily images of Northern and Southern California in additional resolutions and formats, including an infrared-enhanced version that highlights the presence of burned ground.

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NASA Aircraft Examine Impact Of Forest Fires On Arctic Climate
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 16, 2008
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