March 6, 2015 - India

India

A fine haze hung over much of north-central India and dozens of fires speckled southern India in late February 2015.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on February 24 as it passed over the region. White clouds trail over the northwestern section of this image, while a separate swirl of clouds covers the southern tip of the country. Tan is the color of arid or semi-arid land, where vegetation is scarce, while green indicates vegetation. In the waters off the west coast of India, muddy tan indicates sediment flowing into the oceans. This sediment often carries a greenish fringe, which most likely occurs from sediment settling deeper into the water but may also indicate some phytoplankton activity.

In the northeast section of the image a gray haze is so thick that it mostly obscures the green land beneath. A fine haze can be seen over most of north and central India. While the fine haze is not easily visible, its presence lends a softness to the landscape, much like a “soft” lens on a portrait camera gently blurs a photograph. Contrast this softness to the crispness of the landscape in the south where, despite widespread fires, the coastlines appear sharp and the landforms are easily seen from space.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/24/2015
Resolutions: 1km (839.1 KB), 500m (3.1 MB), 250m (7.7 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC