Massive fires scorch NT Top End

Huge plumes of smoke and vast burn scars can be seen from space as seasonal fires continue to burn across the NT’s Top End.

The sequence of satellite images below was captured in the final hours of daylight on Monday, August 15, 2022.

These spectacular images were captured by the Himawari-8 satellite, which sits roughly 36,000 kilometres above the surface of the Earth.

Another satellite positioned closer to the ground - about 700 kilometres high - also witnessed Monday’s fires and captured the images below. These high-resolution images show a huge burn scar left by a fire that is currently burning near Katherine.

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Image: True-colour (top) and false-colour (bottom) images captured by NASA's Terra Satellite on Monday, August 15, 2022. Both images show a large burn scar to the northwest of Katherine. Source: NASA Worldview

The NT’s Top End is in the middle of its dry season, with fires a typical occurrence in the region at this time of year.

The latest emergency information for these fires is available on the NT PFES website.