Images: Satellites watch wildfires burn

NASA uses the MODIS Rapid Response System as part of its SensorWeb project, in which sensors circling the earth act in a network, detecting fires or other events. When a MODIS sensor sees a fire, it alerts other sensors with the fire's location so they can collect additional information in the area.

Steve Chien, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explains how the networked satellites work in this short video.