image: The Aqua satellite collected this natural-color image of fires in Australia with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on June 30, 2017. The image looks at multiple fires and smoke from those fires burning in northern Australia and the island of Bathurst on June 30, 2017. The Northern Territory fire incident map does show some incidents of grass and shrub fires, in the past 24 hours, but it also shows areas of what are called 'strategic fires' which are those set by fire experts to rid an area of overgrowth, brush, dead grass and shrubs to prevent fires from spreading in the event of a lightning strike: http://www.pfes.nt.gov.au/Fire-and-Rescue/Incident-map.aspx There is no mention of fires on Bathurst Island but a recent fire update gives additional information on Bathurst fires: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2017/bushfires-on-bathurst-island-australia Fires on the island seem to have dampened over time. view more
Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner with information from the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue website