NASA MODIS Image of the Day: June 7, 2007 – Fires and smoke in eastern China
A great deal of thick haze was draped over the North China Plain when the MODIS on the Terra satellite captured this image on June 5, 2007.
Dozens of fires, marked with red dots, are scattered across the southern edge of the plain.
China’s winter grain harvest appears to happen at the beginning of June every year, and it’s likely that the fires were started by farmers burning the stubble off their fields after harvest. There are images of this same region for June of 2006 and 2003 that show similar conditions to the ones shown here. There may be other factors adding to the haze other than smoke from the fires. Urban and industrial pollution could be adding to the haze, particularly in the north. Here, the haze is lighter in color, resembling the white-gray air that sometimes lingers over cities. Several of China’s largest cities are in or near the area shown in this image (Beijing is just beyond the top edge of the image), and much of China’s industry is in this region as well.
