Wednesday, April 8, 2015

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z April 9, 2015

DUST
New Mexico:
Three areas of blowing dust/sand were observed in New Mexico this
afternoon/evening in GOES-13 imagery .  Moderate density blowing sand
composed primarily of Gypsum was seen moving northeast from the White
Sands National Monument in south-central New Mexico as winds increased
to 20-25 knots today.  A smaller area of light density blowing dust/sand
from sand dunes in central Torrance county New Mexico could be seen moving
to the northeast.  A large area of light density dust sourced from San
Juan and McKinley county in northwestern portions of New Mexico was seen
moving to the northeast.

Colorado:
An area of light density blowing dust was seen in southern Colorado
this afternoon/evening.  This dust is tracking to the northeast and
currently located in northeast Colorado.

US West Coast:
An area of elevated dust can be seen stretching across the whole west
coast of the US and into the US southwest. The dust originated from
Asia but it is difficult to locate the extent and boundary of the dust
because it is increasing becoming diffuse.

SMOKE
Gulf of Mexico:
Although upper-level cirrus clouds partially obscure the western Gulf
of Mexico in GOES-13 imagery, a large area of thin density smoke can
still be seen moving to the northwest. The smoke originated from many
agricultural fires in the Yucatan Peninsula and active oil rigs in the
southwestern Gulf of Mexico.

-Cronin

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.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/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.