Introduction Page

Dry conditions prevailed and fires erupted in numerous areas of the Ukraine during the week of September 23, 1996. Just north and west of Chernobyl (the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster) are several fires which appear as small brown dots and smoke which appears as light grey. This image is a color composite using 1-kilometer NOAA-14 Local Area Coverage (LAC) Channels 1, 2 and 3. Channel 3 is used because it is more sensitive to heat than the other channels.