Fires in Western Africa
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the western part of Africa on April 20, 2013 and captured many areas of agricultural fires and smoke plumes in several countries including Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau. Fires throughout Sierra Leone are diminishing somewhat since NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the area on March 30 as farmers are moving from setting these clearing fires to planting new crops. There are still a significant amount of fires in the area, but it does seem that they are lessening rather than growing. These fires are set by farmers to clear lands and bring nutrients back to the soil.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image of the light brown smoke and heat signatures of the fires seen as red pixels.
Image: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team Text: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Lynn Jenner