NASA MODIS Image of the Day: April 21, 2011 – Southern India
On April 2, 2011 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite passed over southern India and captured this true-color image of the dry lands typical of summer.
Although India is a large country with varying climates, most of the country experiences four seasons.
Predominating southwesterly maritime winds bring rain to most of the country in the monsoon season from June through September. October and November comprise the northeast, or retreating, monsoon season. Winter comes in December through February, bringing relatively cool and dry weather to the country. Summer, which begins in March in southern India and ends in May, is hot and can be quite dry. In this image, the Deccan Plateau is a large area of dry, tan land which covers most of the interior of southern India. To the west, the Western Ghats Mountain Range is tinged with green while the Eastern Ghats Mountain Range is marked in brown. The Western Ghats are quite tall, and moisture blowing from the Arabian Sea inland is pushed upslope sharply, causing condensation and precipitation. Therefore the mountain range captures nearly all the rain while the interior of the country remains dry.
