November 14, 2020 - Smoke and Aerosols over China

    Follow @NASA_MODIS

   Smoke and Aerosols over China
    Tweet
    Share

   A blanket of light gray haze and aerosols hung over Eastern China near
   the Yellow Sea in mid-November 2020.

   On November 13 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA's Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of
   the smoky scene. Several areas of Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, Anhui, and
   Jiangsu provinces were hidden under the haze which is so thick that, in
   many areas, the land is obscured from view. A river of wind-driven
   smoke and haze flows eastward over the Yellow Sea.

   Regional severe haze creates a serious environmental problem in China,
   impacting air quality, human and animal health, weather, climate, and
   has far-reaching impact on the local ecosystems. Severe haze events are
   frequent, especially in winter when cooler weather can create an air
   inversion over the region, trapping particulates, smoke, and other
   pollutants close to the ground. The haze originates from many sources,
   including the burning of stubble in the agricultural fields or using
   fire for other land-management practices, industrial and vehicle
   emissions, and other factors, making for a complex mix of unsightly and
   unhealthy pollutants that can linger for days or weeks at a time.

   The satellite record shows that the skies in this region were clear on
   November 9, despite widespread agricultural fires. A small area of haze
   appeared on November 10, but by the next day a huge swath of haze
   covered China’s east, stretching nearly 1,900 miles from north of
   Harbin almost to Wuhan. The swath was nearly 500 miles wide. Over the
   next day the haze thinned and spread further south and north with wind
   currents. This image captured the small but dense remnant of the event
   that had lingered over the region for four days.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 11/13/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (218.2 KB),  500m (776.4 KB),  250m (2.4 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-11-14
 
