U.S. Air Quality

Smoke over the Gulf of Mexico, “unhealthy” air conditions in California and haze over Wyoming

According to today’s HMS map (top, left), a smoke plume is hovering over southern Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. This is clearly visible on today’s TERRA RGB image (top, right) and confirmed by strong GASP AOD values. It seems that the smoke is close enough to the ground to lead to “moderate” air conditions over southern and eastern Texas on the EPA AIRNow’s PM2.5 map (bottom, left). A strong concentration of “Moderate” PM levels are also recorded in California and some “unhealthy for sensitive groups” conditions are shown near Bakersfield. Accordingly, this area also records “unhealthy” ozone conditions today around 4 PM. The SSD fire team describes light haze over North Dakota. The strong cloud cover over the area prevents MODIS from confirming this information. On another hand, some haze is visible over Wyoming on today’s AQUA RGB image (bottom, right)