June 9, 2005
Transported Layered Haze over Baltimore
Hard working graduate students work late in the lab, which was why we (Kamonayi, Ray R., and I) were able to take such a beautiful picture overlooking the Key Bridge. Layered haze, likely transported from the far North (Canada), is easily identifiable in the image below. Please refer to Kamonayi's post for her discussion on haze in the Northeast.
We have shown many (search the USAQ Smog Blog Photograph category) examples of uniform haze in Baltimore, but we have few of layered haze. Layered haze is simply a confined layer of pollutants, where the top edge of the pollution layer is easily identified. On the other hand, uniform haze involves evenly (relatively speaking) distributed pollutants throughout the atmosphere.
The layered haze is in front of a fluffy cumulus cloud. A large high-pressure system, which moved through the area several hours prior to this photograph was likely responsible for transporting the haze into this region.
This image was taken at UMBC on top of the Physics building.