Another thick band of haze covered much of the low-lying coastal basin of eastern China on October 2, 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture the same day. The smog extended from the Liaoning region in the northeast to Beijing in the west, and it stretched southwards past the coast bordering the Yellow Sea. Like the haze that covered the region on September 17, this smog kept to the coastal plain, away from the Taihang Shan Mountains in the west. Likewise, the haze strayed somewhat from the coast around the Yellow Sea. In this image, the relatively clear area along the coast provides a view of the underlying terrain. The tan dots indicate settlements in the otherwise vegetated plain.
Among the world’s most densely populated areas, China’s Beijing region produces considerable urban and industrial smog. Some of the haze in this image may also result from agricultural fires. Weather patterns can sometimes play a role in trapping pollutants over the region.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. The Rapid Response Team provides daily images of this region.
