Most if not all the fires in this image taken by Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on April 11, 2017 are controlled fires set by farmers to manage land. Farmers in Kansas as allowed to burn grass every year to produce better grass for cattle. The grass burning typically occurs between March and mid-April on a yearly basis.
Most if not all the fires in this image taken by Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on April 11, 2017 are controlled fires set by farmers to manage land. Farmers in Kansas as allowed to burn grass every year to produce better grass for cattle. The grass burning typically occurs between March and mid-April on a yearly basis.
The issue is with air quality. Air quality alerts are currently in place in Kansas and also in Nebraska as the smoke from the fire drifts in that direction. The smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals produced by incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials.
Read more at NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner
