Satellite images reveal hundreds of forest fires in the North
The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) on Tuesday revealed images from Aqua and Suomi NPP satellites taken on Monday showing smog caused by forest fires in the northern region of Thailand.
The smog was seen covering 17 northern provinces, with high concentration over Chiang Rai, Lampang, Phayao, Nan, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.
On the Aqua image, the red spots represent heat spots from forest fires in the North, while the blue spots are heat from forest fires in Myanmar. The GISTDA, which is under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, reported that as of Monday there were over 6,300 spots in Myanmar.
The Suomi NPP image revealed 1,737 heat spots in Thailand on Monday, 1,494 of them in the northern region. Mae Hong Son has the most heat spots with 465, followed by Chiang Mai at 355 and Lampang at 193.
“The monitoring of heat spots by satellites will help us plan relief measures especially in national parks, reserve forests and agricultural areas,” said the agency.
You can follow the updates on forest fires via satellite imagery at http://fire.gistda.or.th
