Thursday, October 14, 2010

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z October 15, 2010

Southeast US/Gulf of Mexico:
An area of remnant smoke and possibly other mixed aerosols is seen in
this evening's GOES-E visible imagery extending off the the Gulf Coast,
across Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and off the Southeast US coast
following behind a frontal boundary. Moderately dense smoke was present
in the western Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast pushing southward. The
bulk of this smoke is from the numerous agricultural burns and other
fires that have been going on along the Mississippi River Valley over
the past few weeks.

Midwest/Central Plains:
A thin line of aerosol of unknown origin and composition is seen along
a frontal boundary that extends southwestward across the Midwest, from
southern Wisconsin to eastern Kansas. This thin band of aerosol is only
about 18 miles wide but begins to expand and appear more dispersed as it
reaches Kansas and Missouri extending westward along the Kansas/Oklahoma
border.

-Sheffler

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.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/land/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.