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This scene shows a large number of fires burning across southeastern
Russia, releasing a considerable amount of smoke and haze into the
atmosphere over the entire region. This true-color image was
acquired on May 13, 2001, by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard
NASA's Terra spacecraft. The many red pixels correspond to the locations of fires burning on
the ground.
The scene spans large portions the southeastern Russian provinces of
Khabaravsk and Amur, and the northernmost region of Manchuria,
located on the Asian mainland southwest of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Notice the many dark, irregularly-shaped splotches at various places
on the land. These are burn scars from both active and previous
years' wildfires. The burn scars are particularly prominent in the
western half of this image. If you look carefully, you will see
there is some vegetation regrowth in the northern portion of the
largest of the burn scars. The Zeya River bisects this portion of
the burn scar.
Tracing the Zeya River toward the southwest, the river converges with
the Amur River at the border between Russia and Manchuria, China.
The Russian city of Blagoveshchensk is located at the fork of where
these rivers meet.
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, NASA/GSFC
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