U.S. Air Quality

Haze in Southern Texas and Smoke in Mexico

Air Quality was in the moderate range in Southern Texas which looked hazy in the true color imagery. The left image below is the MODIS Aqua RGB and the overall AQI. The code orange monitor in Austin was due to high ozone levels. The MODIS AOD was also elevated in southern Texas (right image). Notice also the two smoke plumes in central and southwestern Mississippi. In southern California a few monitors reached the unhealthy range as well (PM2.5 AQI in this case). Click here for the PM2.5 Airnow AQI map.

There is a lot of fire activity in Mexico and Central America and the NOAA HMS analysis (left image) found smoke off the Yucatan Penninsula and the southern coast of Mexico. You can see the smoke over southern Mexico and transported smoke over the ocean in the MODIS Aqua imagery (right image). The MODIS AOD (see image above) was also high in the gulf due to the transported smoke aerosols.