Satellite quilt of wildfires, smoke throughout Canada

NASA's Aqua satellite captured multiple images of fire and smoke from Canadian wildfires on July 4, 2013. The images were stitched together to form a visual quilt.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument that flies aboard Aqua captured the images. MODIS has the ability to detect hot spots (fires), which appear red in the image. Plumes of smoke from various wildfires can be seen blowing across many of the Canadian provinces and out over the Atlantic Ocean.

As of July 5, the government of Saskatechewan reported 17 wildfires. British Columbia has nine wildfires, Ontario reported 52 active fires, and Alberta reported 20. As of July 4, the government of Manitoba reported 51 active fires. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc. noted that Quebec had four fires. The Department of Natural Resources for Newfoundland reported two fires, and New Brunswick reported no fires.