SPACE OBSERVATIONS OF LARGE-SCALE BIOMASS BURNING AND 
TROPOSPHERIC SMOKE PALLS IN THE AMAZON BASIN, 1973-1988 
Kamlesh P. Lulla and Michael R. Helfert 
Space Shuttle Earth Observations Office 
Code SN15 
NASA/Johnson Space Center 
Houston, Texas 77058 USA 
ABSTRACT 
Photography taken by the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle and Skylab missions has documented the 
presence, increasing frequency, areal shift, and areal growth of large-scale smoke palls in the lower troposphere 
of the Amazon Basin from 1973 through 1988. 520 photographs taken over this 16-year period have been used 
to map changes in the geographic location and size of these Amazon smoke palls. 
In the early period (Skylab-3,1973), these smoke palls appear to be primarily associated with agricultural field 
preparations in Southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina. By the middle and late 1980’s the 
geographic focus of these smoke palls had migrated north and northwest approximately 15° of latitude, and 
was more typically associated with large-scale forest clearing. 
The forest clearing of the middle-late 1980’s is primarily associated with the establishment of road grids and 
agricultural colonies in the western Brazilian States of Acre, Amazonas, and Rondonia. Smoke palls areas in 
the annual Amazon dry-seasons (July-October) have increased from approximately 300,000 sq km in 1973 to 
approximately 3,000,000 sq km in 1985 and 1988. 
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