There are a number of fires burning in Victoria, Australia and smoke and heat signatures were captured from them by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was taken on April 9, 2013 at 04:35 UTC (12:35 a.m. EDT). The smoke plumes appear as a light brown color and the fires appear as a red area. In the southeast, smoke is streaming over the Tasman Sea.
Victoria is peppered with many national parks some of which are experiencing fires. The National Parks seen in this MODIS image include Snowy River, Errinundra, Coopracamba, Alfred, Kosciuszko, Burrowa-Pine Mountain, Lind, Croajinolong, Cape Conran Coastal Park, Alpine, Mt. Buffalo, Mitchell River National Park and the Avon Wilderness and others. For more information about the fires in Victoria, visit the Australian Government website: http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/fire-and-other-emergencies/fires-today-incident-summary .
Image: NASA Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Text: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Rob Gutro