Satellite views of the Finnish nuclear power plant The fires in New South Wales are raging
A satellite from NOAA-NASA’s Finnish nuclear power plant flew over the fires in New South Wales in Australia on 16 December 2019 and detected the continuing destruction of the fire. The New South Wales Rural Fire Brigade reports 96 fires, and the area burned to date is 1.5 times the size of the state of Connecticut (approximately 5.3 million acres of land). These fires are largely the result of atypical drought, rising temperatures and low humidity in the area. In addition to the risk of fires, a smokescreen wrapper that currently covers the heart.
The smoke emitted by all types of fires (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals resulting from the incomplete combustion of carbonaceous materials. All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter (PM or soot). Smoke can contain a wide variety of chemicals such as aldehydes, acid gases, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, toluene, styrene, metals, and dioxins. The type and amount of particles and chemicals in the smoke will vary depending on what is burning, how much oxygen is available, and the combustion temperature.
Exposure to high smoke concentrations should be avoided. Individuals are advised to limit physical exertion if exposure to high levels of smoke cannot be avoided. Individuals with cardiovascular disease (e.g., asthma), infants, young children, and the elderly may be more vulnerable to the health effects of exposure to smoke.
NASA’s Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) is a tool that flies NASA-NOAA’s Finland NPP satellite and provides information on ozone. The OMPS Aerosol Index layer (pictured above) indicates that there are particles (aerosols) that absorb ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the air, such as desert dust and, as in this case, soot particles in the atmosphere; it is related to both the thickness of the aerosol layer in the atmosphere and the height of the layer. The aerosol index is a unit-free range = 5.00, where 5.0 indicates high aerosol concentrations that may impair visibility or affect human health. The Aerosol Index layer is useful for identifying and tracking the long-range transport of volcanic ash from the eruption of volcanic ash, forest fires or biomass, and dust from desert dust storms, even in clouds and snow and ice areas. Yellow aerosols can also be seen in the South Pacific, where winds have carried aerosols out of fires past and outside New Zealand.
Aerosols absorb and scatter incoming sunlight, which reduces visibility and increases optical depth. Aerosols affect human health, the weather and the climate. Sources of aerosols include factory pollution, smoke from fires, dust from storms, sea salts, and volcanic ash and smog. Aerosols endanger human health when inhaled by people with asthma or other respiratory illnesses. Aerosols also affect the weather and climate by cooling or warming the earth, helping or preventing the formation of clouds.
NASA satellite equipment is often the first to detect forest fires in remote areas, and the locations of new fires are sent directly to earthlings around the world within hours of the satellite flyover. Together, NASA instruments actively detect burning fires, monitor smoke transport from fires, provide information for fire management, and map the extent of changes in ecosystems based on the extent and severity of burns. NASA has a fleet of Earth observation devices, many of which help to understand the Earth’s fire. Satellites orbiting the poles provide observations of the entire planet several times a day, while satellites in geostationary orbit provide coarse-resolution images of fires, smoke, and clouds every 5 to 15 minutes. For more information, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/missions/index.html
Forest fires off the east coast of Australia are out of control
Quotation: Satellite views of a Finnish nuclear power plant Fires raging in New South Wales (2019, 16 December) retrieved on 30 December 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2019-12-english-pp-satellite-views-south.html
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