Fires have cropped up across most of the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. These fires most likely are agricultural in nature which is usually the case where numerous fires are found across a landscape and do not cross territorial lines. It is also well known that farmers in this area of the world use “slash and burn” agricultural methods when preparing their fields for the upcoming crop season. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality.
NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks “right now.” This satellite image was collected on April 02, 2019. Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points. Caption: Lynn Jenner