Nearing the end of bushfire season in Western Australia

Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features smoke streaming across Western Australia as the 2022-2023 bushfire season comes to a close. 

“The smoke is visible in this image, acquired on April 23, 2023, with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Most sources of smoke in the MODIS image matched the locations of prescribed burns listed on a map by Emergency WA,” said NASA.

“Summer and early autumn 2022–2023 were drier than usual, according to Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). But in mid-autumn, plentiful rainfall set the stage for prescribed burning to begin. By the end of April, dozens of blazes were burning across the state’s southwest.”

According to NASA, not every fire in this image was planned. Smoke that is visible near the Lake Muir Nature Reserve toward the bottom of the image is likely from a bushfire.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Editor

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