Tuesday, July 28, 2009

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1530Z July 28, 2009

Alaska/Canada/Northern US:
Numerous wildfires are still burning throughout central Alaska, but only
some smoke can be seen in vis imagery due to extensive cloud cover. In
addition, residual light to moderately dense smoke can be seen across
the western sections of the Northwest Territories. Furthermore, another
batch of residual light smoke is situated over a large area stretching
from the northern sections of Alberta and Saskatchewan, south to the
Northern Plains of the US. All of this smoke is presumably coming from
wildfires burning in the Northwest Territories and central Alaska.

British Columbia/Washington/Oregon:
In the Pacific Northwest, several batches of residual light smoke are
moving south, originating from wildfires in the southern province of BC.

California:
Residual light smoke from a wildfire about 200km east of the San Francisco
metro area is currently moving to the south and southwest.


RCE


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.