U.S. Air Quality

Possible smoke from South Central Canada to North Central US, haze over the eastern part of the country and the Atlantic

According to the HMS map (top, left) and the SSD fire team, a large aerosol plume of unknown origin and composition was still observed early this morning in visible imagery. The aerosol extended from Saskatchewan eastward to southern Ontario Province, northern Montana, North Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and Northern Michigan. The TERRA AOD map (top, right) confirms the presence of suspended particles by stronger values over southern Canada.

Some strong satellite AOD values are also shown over Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi as well as over the Atlantic. Some haze can, in deed, be seen in North Carolina on the TERRA RGB image (bottom, left). This haze is probably the reason for a high concentration of “moderate” air conditions in the eastern part of the US. Some “moderate” conditions are also shown in southern California and Texas. In terms of ozone levels, conditions are, at the most, “moderate” over northern Georgia.