Fires are raging in the western U.S. and in one overpass from
its orbit around the Earth, NASA's Aqua satellite picked up
smoke and identified hot spots from fires in Colorado, Nevada,
Arizona and New Mexico. NASA's Aqua satellite captured smoke and
heat signatures from several large fires burning in the western
U.S. on June 19, 2012. When Aqua passed overhead, the Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured
an image at 4:25 p.m. EDT. MODIS infrared imaging can detect
heat. Just as the infrared imagery from another instrument
onboard Aqua, called the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is
used to detect temperature of clouds, land and sea surface,
MODIS data can detect hot spots on land. In the MODIS images,
fires, or hot spots are color coded as red areas in imagery and
smoke appears in light brown. Images are generated at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. As of June 22,
Colorado's High Park Fire has burned 68,200 acres and has
destroyed 189 homes, according t