U.S. Air Quality

Canadian Smoke over Northern and Central US

NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product, overlaid in Google Earth (top left), shows that a large area of thin to moderately dense smoke originating from wildfires over the Yukon (showcased since Wednesday by Meloe) and northern British Columbia extended southeast through much of Alberta and Saskatchewan and into southern Manitoba. In US, the smoke reached, as well, into the North Central States and then dispersed east and south of the Great Lakes and extending into the Lower Mississippi Valley. Denser smoke might have led to higher MODIS Terra AOD (top right) values over the Northern Central States while a thin smoke plume might have spread east and south of Wisconsin leading to a lower AOD.

Good AQI PM2.5 levels (below left) prevailed throughout most of the US, while moderate AQI ozone levels (below right) were recorded along the Central States.