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Fires in Algeria and Tunisia

fires in Algeria and Tunisia
NASA's Aqua satellite detected heat signatures from fires and saw plumes of smoke from fires burning in northern Algeria and Tunisia, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

NASA’s Aqua satellite detected heat signatures from fires and saw plumes of smoke from fires burning in northern Algeria and Tunisia, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria and Tunisia are located on the African continent.

This natural color image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite was taken on August 4 at 8:05 a.m. EDT (1205 UTC). The red areas indicate hot spots, or fires. Smoke appears as a light brown color.

In the image, the western-most fires and smoke detected by MODIS were west of Skikda, Algeria. Skikda is on the coast of the Gulf of Stora, part of the Mediterranean. The land around Skikda is both forested and hilly, with high ridges both east and west of the city. The mountains are filled with tree species such as cedar, oak and pine.

Fires stretched from just west of Skikda, a city on the northern coast of Algeria all the way east through the National Park d’El Kala, and into Tunisia where fires are burning in Cap Serrat along the coast. Cap Serrat is located between the cities of Sejnane and Tabarka in the northwestern region of Tunisia.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Rob Gutro