NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Fires and Dust in Northern Africa

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the northern Africa on Feb. 1, 2013 and captured many areas of agricultural fires and dust in several countries.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured the image of smoke and fires at 1235 UTC (7:35 a.m. EST/U.S.). The multiple red pixels are heat signatures (red) detected by MODIS. The image is false-colored to make the red areas stand out more. Hot spots in red appear in Nigeria, Chad, the Southern African Republic and Cameroon.

The dust appears to be a light brown color and is blowing over Nigeria, Chad and northern Cameroon.

Image: NASA Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Text: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Rob Gutro