Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere, MOPITT, measures two important pollutants in the Earth’s atmosphere—carbon monoxide (CO) and methane. This MOPITT image shows the relative amount of CO over North America from March 5–7, 2000. The animation (2.9MB) (high-res (5MB)) shows the global distribution of carbon monoxide. Industrial activity produced the large amount of CO present in the Northern Hemisphere, and brush fires in Central Africa created the plume of CO stretching from Africa over the Atlantic Ocean.

For more information:
MOPITT images through Visible Earth
MOPITT Web Site at the Canadian Space Agency
MOPITT Web Site at the University of Toronto

Image courtesy of the MOPITT instrument team