Monday, August 5, 2013

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0300Z August 6, 2013

Smoke:
US West Coast:
An area of light to moderate density smoke is visible stretching from NW
California, Oregon, SE Washington, Idaho, and into western Montana. This
smoke originates from the Salmon River and Butler wildfires in NW
California and the numerous wildfires taking place in Oregon, Washington,
and Idaho.

Canada:
A large area of light to heavy dense smoke continues to cover a
significant portion of north-central Canada this morning.  Area of light
smoke extends across northwest Manitoba, northern Saskatchewan/Alberta,
eastern two-thirds of the Northwest Territories and much of western
Nunavut provinces.  Numerous wildfires continue to burn producing
significant smoke plumes across this region.

Aerosols:
Gulf of Mexico:
An area of unknown aerosols is visible swirling around the Gulf of Mexico
states, most notably SE Texas and SW Louisiana. Some of the aerosols are
moving north over land towards Oklahoma. Due to the cloud cover present
in the area, it is difficult to quantify the presence of the aerosols in
the eastern Gulf. It is unknown if the area is related to the Saharan
dust that was blowing to the south in the Caribbean or remnant smoke
over the last few days.

Oegerle


THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS
OF 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.