May 6, 2008
Aerosols Aloft, Fires in the South, & Hawaiian Volcanic smog
Skies are cloudy and hazy (AOD ~ 0.4) over the Great lakes region. MODIS AOD was also elevated throughout the Midwest. Below is the Terra (left) and Aqua MODIS images (right). AOD was elevated in this region yesterday, which was particularly noticeable over Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, the southern region of central Canada, and Minnesota. I suspect that most of this aerosol is from far-away sources since surface PM was quite good (yesterday). Today’s PM2.5 levels are in the moderate range (see animated AQI map in the center) in this region. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to LIDAR data local to this area, which would be useful to see the height of the aerosol layer.
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Several smoke plumes are present in the south (top image). These events are likely contributing to local moderate AQI concentration levels. Also, the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii is still producing significant VOG (volcanic smog). Below are web cam images from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Check out the status report as well (archived here)
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Overall Air quality conditions ranged from good to moderate. Moderate AQI conditions were mostly noticeable across the eastern half of the country and California (light haze was visible here - source).
