Friday, July 17, 2009

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1645Z July 17, 2009

Alaska/Canada/North Central US:
A large mass of smoke of varying density was observed across portions
of Alaska, western and central Canada, and the north central US. The
smoke has spread a very large distance from fires which continue to
burn over the Yukon in northwestern Canada and Alaska. Satellite data
also indicates the possible presence of SO2 from the Sarychev volcano
in Kamchatka embedded within the smoke area over portions of eastern
Alaska, northwestern Canada, and north central Canada. Trajectories are
likely spreading the SO2 along with the smoke southward into south central
Canada and the north central US. GOES-Visible imagery this morning showed
a narrow but rather dense aerosol extending from north central Canada
all the way to the Dakotas and southeastward across Iowa to western
Illinois. It is likely that this very long ribbon of aerosol is composed
of both smoke and SO2, but it is not known which one is the dominant type.

Southern Florida/Caribbean/Bahamas/Southeastern Gulf of Mexico:
A large area of what appears to be leftover blowing dust/sand transported
across the Atlantic from the Sahara in Africa was visible this morning
across the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas,
and as far northwest as extreme southern Florida and the Florida Keys.

JS


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.