November 8, 2022 - Haze over China

Aerosols over China
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On November 7, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of a
thick haze hovering over eastern China. Inland, the gray pall sits
beneath the cloud layer and is so thick that the land beneath is
obscured from view. The aerosols thin in the east as they approach the
coastline to stretch over the Yellow Sea. Although this image shows a
massive amount of haze, it is only a fraction of the entire expanse,
which sweeps more than 2,600 kilometers (1,616 miles) from Chengdu,
China to cross over the Korean Peninsula to reach the Sea of Japan
(East Sea).

The haze likely contains airborne dust, smoke, pollution from industry
and automobiles and other aerosols. Airborne particles are often
measured in microns (also micrometers), or one-millionth of a meter.
Particles with diameters of 2.5 microns or smaller—about one-thirtieth
the width of a human hair—are believed to pose the greatest health
risks because they can lodge deeply in the lungs, according to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.

On November 7, the World Air Quality Index Project website showed
elevated levels of these fine particles, known as PM2.5, to be high
over much of eastern China. For example, the Linyi Economic Development
Zone registered PM2.5 of 278, which is listed as Very Unhealthy. This
Zone is located 50 kilometers north of Jinan, the capital city of
Shandong Province, near the eastern coast, and is not within the area
of thickest haze.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 11/7/2022
Resolutions: 1km (1.4 MB), 500m (4.4 MB), 250m (13.3 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=2022-11-08

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