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