Monday, August 16, 2010

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1930Z August 16, 2010

British Columbia/Alberta/Southwest Saskatchewan/Northwestern US:
An area of moderately dense to dense smoke was seen over central and
south central British Columbia this morning spreading to the east and
southeast. Numerous fires burning across the central and northwestern
parts of the province are responsible for the smoke and some were seen
producing new smoke this morning. Thin remnant smoke from the fires
reached into western and southern Alberta, southwest Saskatchewan,
northeast Montana, southwest North Dakota, and across much of Washington
state.

Alaska/Yukon Territory:
A band of thin remnant smoke from yesterdays fires in the southeastern
and southwestern corners of the Yukon Territory was seen along a
frontal boundary extending northwestward from the southern Yukon into
east central Alaska. Additionally a small area of thin smoke with an
embedded area of moderately dense smoke was present near Fort Yukon,
Alaska from fires just to the west and southwest of that location.

Northwest Territories/North Saskatchewan/extreme Western Nunavut:
Thin remnant smoke from the fires burning in northern Saskatchewan
and southeast of Great Slave Lake in Northwest Territories had spread
southeast by this morning reaching to the Manitoba border over east
central Saskatchewan. A small area of moderate density smoke was embedded
over central Saskatchewan.
Another separate aerosol of unknown origin and composition was seen
much further north; over and to the north/northeast of Great Bear
Lake covering parts of the Northwest Territories and extreme western
Nunavut. The unknown aerosol was moving southward from the Arctic.

Eastern Canada:
Multiple areas of what is believed to be thin remnant smoke was seen
over eastern Canada and the coastal waters; from Nova Scota and Anticosti
Island northeastward, over the south and western shores of Newfoundland,
and north/northeast of Labrador. This remnant smoke likely came from
fires in western Canada several days ago.

Southern US Plains:
Thin remnant smoke possibly mixing with other aerosols such as ozone was
present over parts of southern Illinois, southeast Missouri, Arkansas,
northwest Louisiana, northeast Texas, and eastern Oklahoma. The smoke
observed most likley originated from the large number of fires along
the Mississippi River and over parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, and east
Texas yesterday.

-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.