The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of the fires on August 13, 2012. Thick smoke is visible drifting across the region, especially in a broad belt across southern Oregon and Idaho, and northern California, Nevada and Idaho. Red “hot spots” mark where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fires. Image and more information is found on MODIS website.

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Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.