November 28, 2022 - Aerosols over India

Aerosols
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Widespread haze continued to cloud the skies over much of India
throughout November 2022. On November 25, The Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a
true-color gray skies stretching across the Indo-Gangetic Plain and
also from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal in southern India.

In India, November is the month when farmers typically burn excess
paddy straw after rice harvest—a practice called stubble burning. This
practice contributes greatly to the fine particulates or tiny droplets
(aerosols) that create haze. Burning usually starts in early November
and continues for three to four weeks. Although fires are not visible
in this image, other satellite views confirm that many fires consistent
with stubble burning were active in northwestern India as well as in
the eastern and central sections of the country when this image was
acquired.

Many farmers, particularly in the states of Punjab and Haryana, use
fire as a fast, cheap way to clean up and fertilize fields before
planting winter crops. However, a surge of smoke in the heart of the
densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plain often contributes to a sharp
deterioration of air quality across the region, including in the
capital city of Delhi.

The air quality index rose (US AQI) in Pooth Khurd, Bawana, Delhi
registered at 422 on November 27, 2022, according to the IQ Air
website, which placed conditions as “hazardous” on this website’s
scale. Earlier in the month, on November 1, the air quality index rose
as high as 422, according to the India’s Central Pollution Control
Board, enough to put it into the “severe” category. The high pollution
levels on November 1 prompted a halt in construction in Delhi and calls
for people to work from home.

Smoke from crop fires is not the only contributor to the hazy skies in
the region. Dust from northwestern India’s Thar Desert or from the vast
sand seas located on the Arabian Peninsula frequently sometimes are
blown aloft and across parts of India, contributing to aerosol
pollution. An array of other human-caused sources of air pollution come
from cities, including motor vehicle fumes, industrial and construction
activity, fireworks, and fires for heating and cooking.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 11/25/2022
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m (7.6 MB), 250m (2.5 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=2022-11-28

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