DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0136Z February 17, 2022
SMOKE:
Eastern Half of U.S…
Widespread agricultural burning activity throughout the eastern
south-central and southeastern U.S. was observed emitting light to locally
moderate density smoke plumes mostly moving to the northwest. Cloud
cover was present over portions of the eastern half of the U.S. which
significantly limited detection of leftover smoke from the tremendous
amount of seasonal fire activity over the south-central and southeastern
U.S. in recent days. A couple of patches of leftover thin density
smoke were still visible around breaks in the clouds over central and
eastern North Carolina and spreading northward into south central and
southeastern Virginia.
SMOKE/AEROSOL:
Southern Texas/Bay of Campeche/Gulf of Mexico/Southern and Eastern
Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Mexico and
Central America...
The combination of thin density smoke from seasonal fires in Mexico and
Central America and other atmospheric pollutants including aerosols from
oil and gas flaring and other industries in the region was visible today
over southern and eastern Mexico, northwestern Central America, a sizable
portion of the Pacific off the southern coast of Mexico and Central
America, the Bay of Campeche, the western and central Gulf of Mexico,
and southern Texas. Within this very large area of smoke/aerosol were a
couple of more moderate areas. One was located over eastern Mexico and
extended out over the far western Gulf of Mexico and the western part
of the Bay of Campeche while the second one was located along and off
the southern portions of the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas and
southern Guatemala and over the Pacific.
YL
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/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg
GIS: ftp://satpsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/FIRE/HMS/GIS/
KML: http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/fire.kml (fire)
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/smoke.kml (smoke)
ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO:
SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov