image: NASA's Terra satellite captured an image that shows an abundance of wildfires in Amur Oblast, Russia near the Sea of Okhotsk. Each red hot spot is an area where the thermal detectors on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire. This is not unusual in this remote region of Russia and at this time of year. Wildfires burn large portions of the Russian landscape each summer due to hot, dry conditions.
Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner