Saturday, October 22, 2011

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1800Z October 22, 2011

Northern Gulf of Mexico:
Thin smoke covered a large portion of the northern Gulf of Mexico this
morning as it streamed southward off the coast. Large amounts of ag
burning yesterday in the Southeast US and along the Lower Mississippi
River Valley produced the bulk of this smoke. The remnant smoke may have
extended further southward but a field of cumulus clouds obscured the
view. A large fire in eastern Cameron Parish in southwest Louisiana was
likely responsible for a plume of moderate density smoke that extended
southward over the western Gulf.

Great Lakes Region:
An area of aerosol believed to be thin smoke was present over portions of
Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Wiscosin, and the U.P. Of Michigan. This
thin smoke was being swept eastward by a frontal boundary. The smoke
probably originated from the numerous ag fires that were burning
yesterday over the North Dakota, northwest Minnesota, southern Manitoba,
and southern Saskatchewan.

Sheffler

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.