Wildfire smoke streams off the coast of South Korea

Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features forest fires that broke out in early March on the coast of coastal South Korea. Thousands of firefighters have worked to contain the fires, which have been fueled dry weather and strong winds.

“In NASA satellite data, the first signs of the fires began to appear on March 3-4, 2022, in the coastal areas of Uljin and Samcheok. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured the natural-color image shown above on March 5,” reports NASA.

“At the time, strong westerly winds sent smoke plumes streaming toward southern Japan. By March 7, smoke had thinned some as winds slackened and the weather turned foggy, but the satellites continued to detect fire activity.”

The fires in South Korea have burned across more than 17,000 hectares, and have destroyed more than 300 homes.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer