image: This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on Feb. 22, 2017. Each hot spot, which appears as a red mark, is an area where the thermal detectors on the MODIS instrument recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire. However, this is not the height of fire season in Northern Territory area of Australia. Fire season in the North Territory usually occurs during winter and spring down under. Australia is in its summer right now heading into autumn. A good example of the difference in fire seasons is to compare this image with an image taken in July of 2016. So many more fires dot the landscape in the image from the winter as compared to this one from late summer. view more
Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner with information from the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology.