Images
October 7, 2010 - Fires in eastern China
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Multiple gray plumes of smoke blow across eastern China, stretching well beyond the coastline and over the Yellow Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this natural color image on October 4, 2010.
In the northern portion of this image, plumes tend to be thinner, lighter in color and shorter than those in the southern areas. In the southwest corner of the image, densely clustered red hotspots are the source of a blanket of billowing gray smoke which completely obscures the land beneath it. With the exception of the northwest corner of the image, haze overlays the entire area.
In this image, hotspots occur primarily in the North China Plain, where winter wheat, sorghum and corn are predominant crops. The patterns of green and brown seen near the hotspots are typical of agricultural land in this region, and not typical or forest or grassland. It is likely, therefore, that these fires are agricultural in origin.
Increasing fire frequency has been considered to be a result of a changing climate and, according to a 2009 report in Science Magazine, fires also can contribute to an overall warming trend by releasing carbon stored in vegetation. On the day this image was captured, delegates from more than 150 nations met in Tianjin, China to begin a week long United Nations meeting to discuss solutions to climate change. Tianjin just lies to the north of this image, away from the haze and smoke from the fires.
a
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/24/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Multiple gray plumes of smoke blow across eastern China, stretching well beyond the coastline and over the Yellow Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this natural color image on October 4, 2010.
In the northern portion of this image, plumes tend to be thinner, lighter in color and shorter than those in the southern areas. In the southwest corner of the image, densely clustered red hotspots are the source of a blanket of billowing gray smoke which completely obscures the land beneath it. With the exception of the northwest corner of the image, haze overlays the entire area.
In this image, hotspots occur primarily in the North China Plain, where winter wheat, sorghum and corn are predominant crops. The patterns of green and brown seen near the hotspots are typical of agricultural land in this region, and not typical or forest or grassland. It is likely, therefore, that these fires are agricultural in origin.
Increasing fire frequency has been considered to be a result of a changing climate and, according to a 2009 report in Science Magazine, fires also can contribute to an overall warming trend by releasing carbon stored in vegetation. On the day this image was captured, delegates from more than 150 nations met in Tianjin, China to begin a week long United Nations meeting to discuss solutions to climate change. Tianjin just lies to the north of this image, away from the haze and smoke from the fires.
a
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/24/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
