Agricultural Fires in Washington

Agricultural Fires in Washington

Fall has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means it’s harvest time. In the wheat fields of Washington and Idaho in the northwestern United States, scattered fires (red dots) burn through the wheat stubble. Because of the semi-arid climate of this region, wheat is an important crop; Washington is the third-largest wheat producer in the US, and Idaho is the eighth.

Surrounding the tan wheat fields are the Cascade Mountains (west), the Bitterroot Range (east), and the Blue Mountains (south). Aqua MODIS acquired this true-color image on September 22, 2003.

The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.

Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC