Oil Fires in Iraq : Image of the Day
▻http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=88666
For the past few months, a smoke plume has shifted with the winds over northern Iraq. In recent years, periodic oil fires have cast a dark pall over this arid landscape. They are one consequence of ongoing war in the region.
On August 17, 2016, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired an image (above) of dense smoke plumes roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Mosul. There appear to be multiple sources of fire, most likely oil wells from the Qayyarah oil field. The images in the grid below show the plumes changing direction and thickness since they were first spotted by Landsat 8 on June 14.
