U.S. Air Quality

Moderate PM2.5 AQI Levels in the Eastern US.

Moderate PM2.5 AQI levels (top left) were experienced along Mid-Atlantic, Ohio River Valley and Southeastern states, according to EPA's Airnow. The moderate PM2.5 levels were expected, as indicated by Amy of yesterday's post, due to the light winds and rising humidity levels associated with high pressure system that moved further into the eastern US. An overlay of today's synoptic weather map and MODIS Terra "true color" image, are shown in the top right, indicating the area of coverage of this high pressure system. The impact of the PM2.5 concentrations, in the Mid-Atlantic states, was minimal because the AOD recorded by MODIS Terra and Aqua were below 0.2 (bottom figures). PM2.5 along the Mid-Atlantic (Maryland, Virgina, Delaware and Washington DC) PM2.5 ground monitoring stations ranged between 5-32 ug/m3, according to AirNowTech.

The National Interagency Fire Center reports no fire activity for today. Ozone AQI levels were Good throughout the US.