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GOES-East Views Agricultural Fires in Yucatán Peninsula

March 24, 2020
Imagery of Yucatan Peninsula via GOES East's GeoColor, taken March 2020.

On March 24, 2020, the GOES-East satellite viewed the Yucatán Peninsula as prescribed fires peppered its northwestern coast. Its annual fire season, which lasts from March–May, is used to clear agricultural land and replenish the soil for industrial and subsistence farmers in the region. Occasionally, larger fires are started by trash burning or by accident, especially toward the end of the fire season when it’s drier.

For planned agricultural fires, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) elaborates that they “must be finished in time for planting before the summer rainy season. Then, the ITCZ (or Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone) shifts northward from near the equator, and associated tropical waves help to increase thunderstorm occurrence.” However, a report from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) from the past 90 days has been sobering, with scientists measuring a rainfall deficit of two inches, compared to previous years. Moreover, there is evidence that the region has undergone significant climatic changes over the past millennium, with the collapse of the classic Mayan civilization--which originated in theYucatán Peninsula--possibly tied to changing climate conditions that lead to widespread drought and crop failures, according to some climatologists.

The GOES-East geostationary satellite, also known as GOES-16, keeps watch over most of North America, including the continental United States and Mexico, as well as Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of Africa. The satellite's high-resolution imagery provides optimal viewing of severe weather events, including thunderstorms, tropical storms, and hurricanes.