Images
January 20, 2011 - Central India
Tweet
On a nearly cloudless early winter day, the tans and greens of the high plateaus of Central India can be clearly viewed from space. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image on January 12, 2011 as it passed over the region.
But “cloud-free” does not necessarily mean that the skies are clear throughout the region. The Deccan Plateau, primarily dressed in light tan and stippled with a coating of light green vegetation, stands out in bright relief in the center of the country. The surrounding mountain ranges, the near-coastal Western Ghats, the green-flanked Eastern Ghats, and the transverse -running Vinhyas Satpuryas enclosing the northern plateau, are also easily viewed. But to the north and east, skies are not clear.
In northern India, a thick layer of haze hangs along the southern edge of the Himalaya Mountains, nearly obscuring the land below. This is the notorious winter fog of the Indo-Gangetic plain. This fog can disrupt daily life, hindering visibility and bring poor air quality to inhabitants. Although most of the fog occurs in January and February (the winter season), it can occur at other times as well. It grows thick enough to disrupt air travel an average of 15 – 20 days a year.
A thinner, dull gray haze lightly veils the Indus River Valley, lingering over both western India and eastern Pakistan. The haze in this region, like that south of the Himalayas, is primarily fed by urban and industrial pollution and concentrated by the natural features of the land.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 1/12/2011
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
On a nearly cloudless early winter day, the tans and greens of the high plateaus of Central India can be clearly viewed from space. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image on January 12, 2011 as it passed over the region.
But “cloud-free” does not necessarily mean that the skies are clear throughout the region. The Deccan Plateau, primarily dressed in light tan and stippled with a coating of light green vegetation, stands out in bright relief in the center of the country. The surrounding mountain ranges, the near-coastal Western Ghats, the green-flanked Eastern Ghats, and the transverse -running Vinhyas Satpuryas enclosing the northern plateau, are also easily viewed. But to the north and east, skies are not clear.
In northern India, a thick layer of haze hangs along the southern edge of the Himalaya Mountains, nearly obscuring the land below. This is the notorious winter fog of the Indo-Gangetic plain. This fog can disrupt daily life, hindering visibility and bring poor air quality to inhabitants. Although most of the fog occurs in January and February (the winter season), it can occur at other times as well. It grows thick enough to disrupt air travel an average of 15 – 20 days a year.
A thinner, dull gray haze lightly veils the Indus River Valley, lingering over both western India and eastern Pakistan. The haze in this region, like that south of the Himalayas, is primarily fed by urban and industrial pollution and concentrated by the natural features of the land.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 1/12/2011
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
