Australian wildfires, Victoria, Australia, 11 January 2026, Sentinel-3

Image of the week: Smoke from bushfires in southeastern Australia

Watching our Earth from space

This week’s image is of smoke from large bushfires that have been affecting southeastern Australia. The image was captured on 11 January 2026 by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites.

Last Updated

15 January 2026

Published on

15 January 2026

Smoke from recent bushfires can be seen in the image in the southern state of Victoria.

The spread of the fires in the region has been exacerbated by very hot, dry and windy conditions, which have made the fires harder to contain.

The Victoria State Control Centre reported that the fires have burnt across more than 400,000 hectares of land.

It was also reported that more than 260 homes and 900 structures have been confirmed destroyed, while farmers have reported the loss of over 20,000 livestock.

Follow currently active bushfires across the state of Victoria.

Wildfire image

The main image was captured by the OLCI instrument onboard one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 11 January 2026.

EUMETSAT operates the Sentinel-3 satellites, in cooperation with ESA, and delivers the marine and atmospheric data on behalf of the European Union.

More info

How data from EUMETSAT and Copernicus satellites is used to monitor the atmosphere

How satellite data is used to help manage wildfires

Access atmospheric data from EUMETSAT User Portal

Spreading like wildfire - a UNEP report on the impact of climate and changing land use on the incidence of extreme wildfires

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