October 7, 2009
Good Air Quality over the US. Smoke over Iowa.
Good (Code Green) AQI conditions prevailed across the U.S. with scattered Moderate readings in the south and west, according to EPA's Airnow new combined ozone and PM2.5 AQI loop map (top left). As Amy indicated on yesterday's post, it is no longer straightforward to analyze air quality conditions. If we consider Airnow's preliminary PM2.5 data map (top right) and that ozone formation might not been favored under the current weather conditions the low Moderate concentrations in the combined loop are likely due to PM2.5.
According to NOAA's Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product a small patch of thin smoke, circled in MODIS AQUA "true color" image, in east Nebraska and Iowa (below left) might be due from several fire sources in Kansas and Colorado and South Dakota's Black Hills. MODIS Aqua AOD product shows that the smoke from the fires does not have a significant contribution on today's retrieval (bottom right).
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