In November, satellites often observe large clouds of smoke and heightened fire activity in northwestern India as farmers burn excess paddy straw after the rice harvest—a practice called stubble burning. November 2022 followed this pattern.
In November, satellites often observe large clouds of smoke and heightened fire activity in northwestern India as farmers burn excess paddy straw after the rice harvest—a practice called stubble burning. November 2022 followed this pattern.
When the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this natural-color image on November 1, 2022, a plume of smoke curled from northeastern Pakistan to the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Use the slider tool to see the locations of active fires observed by VIIRS that afternoon.
Many farmers, particularly in the states of Punjab and Haryana, use fire as a fast, cheap way to clean up and fertilize fields before planting winter crops. However, a surge of smoke in the heart of the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plain often contributes to a sharp deterioration of air quality across the region, including in the capital city of Delhi.
Read more at: NASA Earth Observatory
Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
