Thursday, May 12, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z May 13, 2011


Canada/North Central US:
A broad area of thin smoke extends from central Saskatchewan south into
Montana. This smoke is likely remnant from fires in the Central US and
Saskatchewan.

Southeast US Coast/Gulf of Mexico:
A large area of thin to moderately dense smoke continues to cover much of
Gulf of Mexico. The main source of this smoke is the fire in southeastern
Georgia (Honey Prarie wildfire) in Okefenokee Swamp. Residual smoke from
fires across Mexico and Central America is also likely contributing to
the overall smoke across this region.   Smoke originating in Central
America is especially dominate in the western Gulf of Mexico.

Atlantic Ocean:
Remnant smoke from a wildfire in eastern North Carolina (Pains Bay) is
present in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Carolinas and northern Florida.

Myrga/Ramirez/Salemi





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.