File:Eastern Brazil (MODIS 2017-06-11).jpg

English: On June 7, 2017, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite flew across eastern Brazil and acquired a true-color image of the region.

Clouds stretch along the coast of the South Atlantic Ocean. The cloud bank snaking along the northern coast crosses the states of Para, Maranhao, and Ceara. The broad bank of clouds along the eastern coast covers parts of the states of Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, and Bahia. Heavy rains in both the Northeastern and Southern regions of Brazil caused serious flooding in late May, according to a story published in the Rio Times on May 30. They reported a state of emergency had been declared at that time in several municipalities in the states of Alagoas, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Sul. At least seven people had died in the floods.

In the center of the image, multiple red hot spots dot the landscape. Each marks an area where the thermal bands on the instrument detected temperatures hotter than background. When accompanied by typical smoke, as are most in this image, they mark actively burning fire. Most of the smoke plumes are thin and blend into the moderate haze that hangs over the region. In the west, the deep greens of the Amazon Rainforest sits under the heaviest plumes of smoke.