Air Quality Remote Sensing Program
Near Real Time Monitoring of Smoke Plumes from
the October 2007 California Fires by NOAA GOES Imager
The San Diego fire of October 21-24, 2007 is the fourth largest fire
in the last three decades, which burned more than 200,000 acres and
emitted more than 9,000 tons of PM 2.5 (particulate matter with particles
smaller than 2.5 microns that are harmful to human health). The NOAA GOES Imager gives
a near real-time monitoring of smoke plumes from this fire.
The hourly emissions of the PM2.5 from wildfire in California is shown in
Figure 1. Circles with
bright colors indicate high emissions. Figure 2 shows hourly
animation for the GOES aerosol optical depth (AOD). Areas with
red colors indicates high particulate pollution.
Figure 1. PM 2.5 Animation
Click on image to view animation in a new window (GIF, 4MB)
Figure 2. Hourly Animation of GOES AOD
October 22 & 23, 2007 - California Wildfires
Click on image to view animation in a new window (WMV, 2.5MB)
Objective
To provide observational support to the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the National Weather Service (NWS) for air quality monitoring
and forecasting.
Tools
Air quality products from
NOAA's operational geostationary and
polar-orbiting satellite sensors.
Timeline
By 2010 and beyond, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction
(NCEP) will have an improved air quality forecast system
due to the incorporation of air quality
products from NOAA's geostationary and polar-orbiting
satellite sensors into its air quality forecast system.
Ongoing Science Advances
Science Advances from New Efforts
2005 - 2008:
Derive PM2.5 Emissions
2006 - 2010:
Chemical data assimilation studies with NOAA,
MeTOP and
NASA
(Aura / Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite data;
IJPS
GOME-2 product development;
GOES-R
algorithm / product development;
NPOESS
product development;
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