MSGID: 1:317/3 639377cb   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   December 9, 2022 - Fires and Smoke in Western Africa   
      
      Fire and Smoke   
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      Hundreds of fires were burning across Western Africa in early December   
      2022. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on   
      board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-colored image of clouds,   
      smoke, and fire across several countries lying on the coast of Guinea   
      on December 7.   
      
      Each red “hot spot” marks an area where the thermal bands on the MODIS   
      instrument detected high temperatures typical of actively burning fire.   
      The largest cluster of fires lie in Ghana, a country slightly smaller   
      than the size of the U.S. state of Oregon. Fire also can be seen in   
      Cote d'Ivoire, to the west of Ghana, as well as Togo and Benin, two   
      countries to the east of Ghana. Further west, few fires are visible in   
      Nigeria. few fires are also seen in Burkina Faso, in the northwest or   
      Niger, located in the northeast. A smokey haze covers the landscape   
      over the visible hot spots and northward, while clouds likely obscure   
      many hot spots from view.   
      
      While it is not possible to discern the cause of a fire from satellite   
      imagery, the time of year, location, and number of the fires strongly   
      suggest that these fires are agricultural in origin. Most farmers in   
      Ghana and nearby countries have small holding and still use traditional   
      practices, such as fire, to manage land. Fires are used to clear   
      stubble from old crops, to renew pasture, to open new land for cropping   
      or pasture, or to prepare for planting.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Aqua   
      Date Acquired: 12/7/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (361.8 KB),  500m (1.2 MB),  250m (4 MB)   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-12-09   
       
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