U.S. Air Quality: Baldy/Whitewater Wild Fire Continues as Smoke from this fire travels eastward

May 25, 2012

Baldy/Whitewater Wild Fire Continues as Smoke from this fire travels eastward

NOAA's Hazard Mapping System (HMS, top) shows that smoke from the Baldy/Whitewater fire is continuing to be produced. Smoke from this fire was observed over several states in the Pacific Southwest, southern Plains States, Mississippi Valley, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic. The MODIS AQUA true color image (bottom) shows smoke from the Baldy/Whitewater fire in New Mexico and dense smoke from this fire over Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. The MODIS AQUA AOD map (IDEA, bottom right) shows high AOD values observed over Louisiana and Alabama. In Texas and Oklahoma, moderate AOD values were observed.

The two images below were sent in by Colin Seftor of the NASA NPP Science Team & Ozone PEATE. OMPS primarily observes ozone, but it also provides information on amount and distribution of dust and smoke in the atmosphere. The left image show the Aerosol Index from OMPS over laid on a RGB image. The highest area of aerosol index in New Mexico from the Baldy/Whitewater wildfires. The right image shows Aerosol Index from OMPS as well. In this image the smoke can be seen moving eastward.

Air quality elsewhere PM2.5 levels (left, courtesy AIRNow) were Code Yellow for much of the Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic regions. Ozone levels (right, courtesy AIRNow) reached Code Orange in Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee, and California.

Posted by Jaime Compton at May 25, 2012 10:14 PM

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