A thick band of haze blew over the Sea of Japan on April 10, 2009. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image the same day. The haze appears as a translucent band of dingy gray. Over northern Japan, the haze blends with opaque white clouds.
Scattered across the landscape of North Korea are numerous red dots. These hotspots show where MODIS has detected unusually warm surface temperatures, likely resulting from agricultural fires or wildfires. Although these fires no doubt contribute to the haze, it probably results primarily from urban and industrial pollution farther inland.
NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
