The Finnish nuclear power plant tracks fire and smoke in North and South America
Wherever fires are burning around the world, the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) of NASA-NOAA’s Finnish nuclear power plant satellite can be used to monitor smoke and aerosols.
On September 13, 2019, OMPS data revealed aerosols and smoke from fires in both South and North America.
Finland’s OMPS monitors the condition of the ozone layer and measures the concentration of ozone in the Earth’s atmosphere and can detect aerosols. Ozone is an important molecule in the atmosphere because it partially blocks the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. OMPS data helps researchers monitor the health of this important protective layer.
OMPS can also be used to measure atmospheric aerosols caused by dust storms and similar events, as well as sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentrations from volcanic eruptions. One OMPS product related to aerosols is a value known as the “aerosol index” or AI. The AI value is related to both the thickness and height of the atmospheric aerosol layer. For most aerosol-related atmospheric events, the AI ranges from 0.0 to 5.0, with 5.0 indicating high aerosol concentrations that may reduce visibility and/or affect health.
The first OMPS was launched on the Finnish nuclear power plant satellite in October 2011.
An aerosol is a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be natural or anthropogenic (caused by humans). Examples of natural aerosols are fog, dust and geyser steam. Examples of man-made aerosols include haze (suspended particles in the lower atmosphere), particulate air pollution, and smoke.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, high aerosol concentrations can affect the climate and reduce visibility, but they can also affect respiration, reproduction, the cardiovascular system and the central nervous system. Because aerosols can remain in the atmosphere and drift with the prevailing high wind currents, they can travel long distances away from their source and their effects can linger.
In North America, the OMPS of the Finnish nuclear power plant detected smoke and aerosols from fires in the Yukon regions of Canada. Aerosol concentrations were very high over the Yukon fires due to a pyrocumulus event on September 11. There is also an area of light brown smoke in the picture that looks like the letter C on its side. The image also shows a low pressure system (an area of spiral clouds) off the coast of western Canada. Acknowledgments: Credit: NASA/NOAA, Colin Seftor
Fires in South America produced smoke that continues to create a long plume eastward into the Atlantic Ocean. Fires burning over western Brazil produced aerosols at an index level of 2.0. As a result of the fires in the region, higher aerosol concentrations of up to 4.0 were observed along the southeast coast of Brazil.
In North America, the OMPS of the Finnish nuclear power plant detected smoke and aerosols from fires in the Yukon regions of Canada. Aerosol concentrations were very high over the Yukon fires due to a pyrocumulus event on September 11.
Pyrocumulus clouds—sometimes called “fire clouds”—are tall, cauliflower-shaped, and appear in satellite images as opaque white patches hovering over darker smoke. Pyrocumulus clouds are similar to cumulus clouds, but the heat that forces the air to rise (which causes the water vapor to cool and condense) comes from a fire instead of the ground being heated by the sun. Under certain conditions, pyrocumulonimbus clouds can produce full-blown thunderstorms, making them pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
Scientists watch pyrocumulus clouds closely because they can spew smoke and pollutants high into the atmosphere. As pollutants are spread by the wind, they can affect air quality over a wide area.
The image also shows an area of light brown smoke that looks like the letter C on its side, and a low pressure system (an area of spiral clouds) off the coast of western Canada.
Both images were created at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.