MSGID: 1:317/3 63f506c0   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   February 21, 2023 - Aerosols over India and Bangladesh   
      
      Aerosols   
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      A thick gray haze hung over India and Bangladesh in late February 2023,   
      obscuring much of the land from satellite view and raising levels of   
      aerosol pollution near the ground. The Moderate Resolution Imaging   
      Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a   
      true-color image of the scene on February 17.   
      
      The haze is thickest in the southeast, over Bangladesh, but covers   
      almost all the landscape south of the Himalaya Mountains, indicating   
      that the haze is relatively low-level. North of the high mountains   
      peaks, the air over the Tibetan Plateau appears crystal-clear. High   
      cloud in the south and the northeast are white, suggesting they are   
      floating over the lower-level haze. A wider view, which expands beyond   
      the edges of the image, shows that the fingers of smokey-toned haze and   
      cloud visible in the west of this image stretch across Afghanistan and   
      Pakistan, where dust mingles with the cloud.   
      
      Winter haze is a regular visitor in northern India, and typically is   
      caused by a complex mix of aerosols (tiny particles suspended in air)   
      and weather conditions. Winter aerosols in this region include   
      pollution from the densely-populated Indo-Gangetic plain, industry,   
      smoke, and dust blowing from the Thar Desert, which sits between India   
      and Pakistan. Cold seasonal temperatures contribute to the buildup of   
      haze as they trap the cooler air near the Earth under a high layer of   
      warmer air. The layer of high warm air acts like a lid, stopping the   
      upward flow of low-level air and thus the dispersion of aerosols and   
      haze.   
      
      Early in the morning of February 17, the air quality index (AQI) score   
      in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, reached 335, bringing it the   
      dubious title of “city with the most polluted air” on that date,   
      according to local media. On that same day, the AQI in Delhi, India was   
      302, Lahore, Pakistan registered 213, and Kabul, Afghanistan, was 188,   
      capturing second, third, and fourth-most polluted spots, respectively.   
      AQI is based on five pollutants: particular matter (PM10 and PM2.5),   
      nitrogen dioxide (N02), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and   
      ozone (O3). An AQI between 151 and 200 listed as “unhealthy”; between   
      201 and 300 is “very unhealthy”, and 301 to 400 is “hazardous”.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 2/17/2023   
      Resolutions:  1km (840.9 KB),  500m (2 MB),  250m (1.4 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=2023-02-21   
       
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