Friday, July 3, 2009

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1502Z July 3, 2009

Alaska:
Copious amounts of smoke are coving a large portion of the state of
Alaska, particularly the S and E portions of the state.  There is a
small arc of smoke from prior day's emissions that curls around the N
and S Yukon territory and E AK due to an upper low over SW portions of
the NW Territories.  This arc is connected to the larger area over SE AK.

SO2:
A narrow line (30-50km wide N to S) extends across BC, Alberta,
Saskatchewan and N Manitoba from N Queen Charlotte island, to the SE
kink in the BC/Alberta province line across Cree and Reindeer Lake to
the Manitoba coast of Hudson Bay.

Southern US Plains:
A large area of hazy with possible residual thin smoke covers the E half
of TX, all of OK and LA, along with portions of central and SE KS.

Southern Illinois/Indiana:
A pocket of haze can be seen over S IL and SW Indiana but may have a
mix of SO2 as well associated with it...however, if there is thin smoke
associated with it...the source is unknown at this time.

Gallina


More information on the areas of smoke described above as well as others
can be found at the locations listed below.

THE FORMAT OF THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS BEING MODIFIED. IT WILL NO LONGER
DESCRIBE THE VARIOUS PLUMES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES. THESE
PLUMES ARE DEPICTED IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE:

JPEG:   http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/hms.html
GIS:    http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm
KML:    http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/kml.html

THIS TEXT PRODUCT WILL CONTINUE TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SMOKE
WHICH HAVE BECOME DETACHED FROM AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE
SOURCE FIRE, TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. IT WILL ALSO
STILL INCLUDE DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOWING DUST.

ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR THE SMOKE TEXT
PRODUCT IN GENERAL SHOULD BE SENT TO SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov













 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.