Fires in Northwest India

Fires in Northwest India

17October 2006

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Agricultural fires (marked in red) dotted the state of Punjabin northwestern India on 15 October 2006, when the Moderate Resolution ImagingSpectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this image.

AQUA
15 October  2006

The green of the fields,watered by rivers and streams flowing out of the Himalaya Mountains to the north,contrasts sharply with the more arid terrain, which appears tan. Abouttwo-thirds of the food grain grown in India is grown in this area. Farmers usefire to clear brush and crop stubble from fields. Although such fires are notnecessarily immediately hazardous, they can have a strong impact on weather,climate, human health, and natural resources.

The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250meters per pixel.

(source: EarthObservatory).

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