December 27, 2021 - Fires in West Africa
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Fires in Benin
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Dozens of fires burned across the southern coast of West Africa in late
December 2021. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite captured a true-color image of
the smoke-filled scene on December 23.
Each red “hot spot” marks an area where the thermal bands on the MODIS
instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with typical
smoke, as in this image, such hot spots mark actively burning fire. The
fires span five countries. From west to east they are Côte d'Ivoire,
Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. Most are clustered in Côte d'Ivoire
and Ghana. Smoke covers the entire region and streamers of smoke pour
across the Gulf of Guinea.
The location, high number, and time of year strongly suggest that these
are agricultural fires, which have been deliberately set to manage
crops or pasture. The economy of many of these countries is dominated
by agriculture, with high numbers of residents employed as farmers.
Fires are used to clear stubble from harvested crops, prepare land for
new crops, and to clear new land for pasture or cropping. They are also
sometimes ignited to facilitate hunting, by driving game towards the
hunters. On a small scale, the fires do not necessarily do serious
harm, but large numbers of fire and smoke can cause respiratory
problems in people and animals, damage air quality, and may even impact
climate.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 12/23/2021
Resolutions: 1km (59.9 KB), 500m (201.3 KB), 250m (718.8
KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-12-27
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