MODIS Image of Oil Fires in Southern Iraq

This image of Iraq, Kuwait, and parts of Saudi Arabia and
Iran was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on March
21, 2003, at 07:25 UTC (or 10:25 a.m. local time in
Baghdad.) The image shows dust over the Middle East and
the Persian Gulf, as well as several thermal anomalies
detected by MODIS that have been marked with red dots
or outlines. Large plumes of black smoke are associated
with these hot spots and locations are consistent with
known oil well locations. It is not uncommon for MODIS
to see thermal signatures at the numerous oil wells in
the area; however, the amount of smoke being produced
is larger than normal.

Click on image for larger view

The high-resolution image provided above is a sub-section
of a larger image. The MODIS Rapid Response System
provides the image of the full scene at MODIS’ maximum
spatial resolution of 250 meters.

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response
Team at NASA GSFC