Thursday, September 15, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0245Z September 16, 2011

Gulf of Mexico/Southeast US/Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US:
Thin density remnant smoke covers northern Florida and southeast Georgia
as well as the far eastern Gulf of Mexico and far western Atlantic ocean
adjacent to the Florida peninsula, Georgia, and South Carolina. The smoke
originated mainly from fires in southeastern Georgia and northeastern
Florida. Elongated plumes of moderately dense to locally dense smoke
were observed moving to the east from these fires reaching as far as
the Florida and Georgia Atlantic coasts.
An aerosol of unknown origin and composition is also seen in visible
satellite imagery stretching along the Atlantic coast from central Florida
as far north as Massachusetts. This aerosol is likely composed of both
pollutants and remnant smoke aerosols that are being swept ahead of the
approaching cold front. Remnant smoke aerosols could have originated
from the smaller, local fires in the mid Atlantic and Southeast regions
or they could be days old remnants from the much larger wildfires of the
past week in the Pacific Northwest. Another region of aerosol of unknown
origin and composition was present across much of the northern Gulf of
Mexico. Some remnant smoke, particularly from the larger southeastern
Georgia and northeastern Florida fires may be a component of this aerosol.

Great Lakes Region:
The Pagami Creek wildfire in northeast Minnesota continues to emit
light to moderate density smoke which spread to the southeast across
far western Lake Superior, and over the western portion of Michigan's
upper peninsula and far northern Wisconsin.

Northwestern US/Southwestern Canada:
Only a relatively small patch of smoke was barely discernible between
breaks in the clouds over east central Idaho and western Montana,
closer to the region where numerous fires have been ongoing. More smoke
is likely present across a larger portion of the northwestern US and
southwestern Canada, but extensive cloud cover is preventing detection
in satellite imagery.

JS/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.