Two days after excessive haze collected over the eastern United States, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of haze traveling over the Atlantic, on August 4, 2006. Although the origin of this haze wasn’t certain, it likely resulted from urban smog exacerbated by summer heat.
In this image, the haze appears as a dingy, pale film over the ocean. North of the haze are opaque white clouds. South of the haze is a band of sunglint—a reflection of the Sun’s light bouncing off the ocean surface directly back toward the satellite sensor.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at Goddard Space Flight Center.
