October 30, 2007
Fires
Unfortunately, fires from California are still the major air quality story.
Several fires remain in California (refer to USDA Forest Service image). Fire occurrences were also evident in Arizona and Oklahoma. For current information and detailed statistics on fire events in the U.S. please refer to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) -> http://www.nifc.gov/fire_info/nfn.htm (archived on the blog).
PM levels were elevated in the West, parts of the North, and Southern Texas. AOD from IDEA is useful to fill in the AQ gaps where ground based PM monitors are not available. Thus, the aerosol load is slightly elevated over the Northeast and is particularly intense over California and the southern region of Texas.
 |  |
True Color - left Terra MODIS, right Aqua MODIS
 |  |
* Aqua MODIS, Western U.S. and Rapidfire Subset of CA.
NAAPS provides a model of the aerosol species. Sulfates are probably primarily impacting the Eastern U.S. while aerosols in the West are mostly smoke related.
