English: The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the lower Indus River valley on February 9, 2017.

The Indus River rises in the Tibetan Himalaya Mountains, flows southward through Pakistan, then empties into the Indian Sea. The flow of the Indus fluctuates substantially throughout the year. The snowmelt from the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges join with the monsoon rains to fill the river from mid-July to mid-August. The flow is lowest from December to February. Because the Indus irrigates about 44 million acres of farmland, the landscape changes along with the river levels: the lush green of September has dulled and mixed with patches of tan by late February.

February is also a time when hot spots tend to be seen along the Indus. These red spots mark areas where the thermal bands on the instrument detect temperatures higher than background. When combined with smoke, as can be seen at high resolution in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for actively burning fire. Give the time of year, the location of the fires, and the number, these fires are likely agricultural in origin and are being used to manage land.