October 26, 2014 - Fires and smoke in northern India

Fires and smoke in northern India

The agricultural fire season in northern India was heating up in mid-October, 2014. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on October 19 as it passed over the region.

Red hotspots cluster in the Punjab region of northwestern India. Others are scattered in Pakistan and south of the Himalaya Mountains. Such hotspots mark the locations where the thermal sensors on the MODIS instrument detected high temperatures. When combined with smoke, they indicate actively burning fires.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/19/2014
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC