U.S. Air Quality

“Unhealthy” ozone levels for sensitive groups in New England and what seems to be haze over the Gulf of Mexico

Today’s EPA AIRNow’s PM2.5 map (top, left) show some “moderate” air conditions mostly in California and on the northern East Coast. The ozone levels (top, right) are “unhealthy for sensitive groups” mostly in the state of New York and Vermont but also in parts of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

According to the SSD fire team at NOAA and the HMS map, no significant areas of smoke or dust are observed. The MODIS TERRA AOD map (bottom, left) shows some fairly strong light extinction values in Arizona, Wyoming and over the Gulf of Mexico. The GASP AOD map also shows important values over the Gulf of Mexico. On today’s MODIS TERRA RGB map (bottom, left), nothing can be seen over Arizona and Wyoming due to cloud cover. On another hand, haze could be mixed with clouds over the Gulf of Mexico (bottom, right).