15-17 March 1998 -- Fires In Amazonia

GOES-8 3.9 micron shortwave IR 15 March 1998 (20:45 UTC)

GOES-8 3.9 micron shortwave IR 16 March 1998 (20:45 UTC)

(Interactive dual-image comparison of 15 March and 16 March shortwave IR images)

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GOES-8 0.65 micron visible 16 March 1998 (11:45 UTC)

GOES-8 0.65 micron visible 17 March 1998 (11:45 UTC)

These GOES-8 3.9 micron shortwave IR and 0.65 micron visible images show the locations of fire hot spots (dark pixels) and smoke plumes over the northern Brazilian state of Roraima. Fires can also be seen along the coast of Guyana and Surinam, and in Venezuela. On 15, 16 and 17 March 1998 numerous fires were burning out of control, and smoke from these fires forced the airport at Boa Vista (in Roraima, Brazil) to close on both days. Media reports have indicated that during the past 3 months, fires in Roraima have burned about 1.5 million acres of savanna and forest (nearly 3% of the Brazilian state).