Wednesday, August 10, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0330Z August 11, 2011

Mid-Atlantic Coast:
A large area of unknown aerosol is observed off the East Coast of the
US stretching from New England southward to the northern Bahamas. This
elongated area of aerosol is positioned to the east of and along a
stationary frontal boundary. There is a significant smoke contribution
from the Lateral West wildfire in Suffolk City County, VA that is
confined to the western Atlantic off the states of Virginia and North
Carolina. Thin to moderate density smoke extends well offshore in a nearly
due east trajectory this evening while thick to very dense remnant smoke
is observed closer to the coast. From this morning: The smoke actively
coming from this fire this morning had been directed due southward but
started turning to the east by midday.

Dakotas:
A relatively small area of moderate to thick density smoke is present near
the North Dakota-South Dakota border, with equal parts of the remnant
smoke in each state. The smoke has mainly originated from a fire on the
South Dakota side and is moving to the southeast as it disperses.

Western and central Canada:
Smoke detection in Canada is limited this evening due to cloud cover. In
cloud breaks, an area of light smoke can be seen stretching from the east
side of Great Slave Lake in southeast Northwest Territories southeast into
northern Saskatchewan and central Manitoba as far east as the Ontario
border. This smoke is likely remnant from yesterday's fires in northern
Alberta/southeast Northwest Territories

Hawaii:
Smoke was observed today on Maui from approximately 1700Z-1900Z. The smoke
was mostly thin density but had an embedded strip of moderately dense
smoke. The direction of movement was almost due west except for a slightly
southward component. The smoke reached as far west as Lanai Island.

Ramirez


THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT
AREAS SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME
DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE
FIRE..TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST
ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF
THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO
THE SOURCE FIRE 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
ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT 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.