Monday, March 20, 2023

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1640Z March 20, 2023

SMOKE/AEROSOLS:
Mississippi Valley and Southeastern CONUS...
Widespread burning activity was observed across the southeastern U.S,
with the most noticeable areas being South Carolina and Alabama. This
widespread burning activity produced numerous smoke plumes, majority of
them moving in south-southeast direction.

Central America/Pacific Ocean south of Mexico...
A large area of thin density smoke/aerosol mix produced from ongoing
seasonal fire activity and industrial activity in Mexico and Central
America was observed across Nicaragua, parts of Costa Rica and the
Caribbean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean south of Mexico. This smoke may
extend further into northern regions of Central America but cloud cover
precluded further analysis.

DUST/AEROSOL:
Southern Mississippi Valley/Mid-West...
A large patch of thin density aerosol/dust was seen this morning
extending from southern Indiana and southeastern Missouri towards
the lower Mississippi Valley region of Arkansas and parts of northern
Louisiana. This patch of aerosol/dust mixture may be composed of dust
transported from desert regions in Asia as well as potential contributions
from yesterday’s burning activity in the U.S Midwest and Great Plains.

NGUYEN


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 map:	https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg
Smoke data:
https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Smoke_Polygons
Fire data:
https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Fire_Points

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.