Active fire detections (red dots) in India near the fertile lands near the Indus River probably signify seasonal agricultural burning. This image was captured on October 16, 2002 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on the Aqua satellite. The image shows the broad, fertile plain of the Indus River at upper left, and the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas at top right. In this image, the fires appear to be producing quite a bit of smoke, which may be mingling with other sources of air pollution in the region.
Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC