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Ring of Fire in Australia Visible in NOAA/NASA’s Suomi NPP Image

Suomi NPP image of the Dampier Peninsula in Western Australia and the ring of fire seen there.
NASA's Suomi NPP satellite collected this natural-color image of fires in Western Australia using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on May 15, 2019.

NASA/NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite collected this natural-color image of fires in Western Australia using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on May 15, 2019. The image shows a “ring of fire” in the Dampier Peninsula of Western Australia. The fires could be bushfires due to the high temperatures and low humidity in this area or these fires could also have been set deliberately to rid the area of underbrush that could be ignited by humans or by lightning strikes. Fire officials sometimes take the initiative to burn excess brush so that bushfires cannot start and grow quickly out of control. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services of Western Australia is not reporting bushfires in the immediate area of what has been captured in this image.

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 May 15, 2019. Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points. Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner