Thursday, April 6, 2017

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z April 6, 2017

SMOKE:
Bay of Campeche/Gulf of Mexico/Florida...A sizable area of mainly thin
density smoke was visible this morning stretching from portions of
Southern Mexico and Central America over the Bay of Campeche and the
southern and southeastern Gulf of Mexico to as far northeast as the
central and southern part of the Florida peninsula. This smoke was
attributed to the ongoing significant seasonal burning occurring in
portions of Mexico and Central America.

DUST:
Western Atlantic/Caribbean...The large region of persistent Saharan dust
was seen again this morning over the Windward and Leeward Islands and
much of the Caribbean south of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Cuba. The dust
appeared to spread inland over the northern part of South America as well
as a portion of Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula. The dust may
have reached into the far southern portion of the Gulf of Mexico where
it merged with the large region of smoke from the Mexican and Central
American fires.

JS


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.