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May 21, 2023 - Canadian Wildfire Smoke Over Michigan
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Smoke from wildfires raging in Western Canada covered the skies over Michigan and the surrounding Great Lakes in mid-May 2023. On May 18, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image, the cloud of smoke was so thick that most of the blue waters of Lake Michigan (west), northern Lake Huron (east) and the greens land of northern Michigan were obscured from view.
The fires belching this smoke high into the atmosphere, where it can be carried far across North America and the Atlantic Ocean, originate a few thousand miles away in the provinces British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. As of May 16, these fires had scorched 478,000 hectares (1,800 square miles) which is 10-times the average area burned for this time of year.
Local media across Michigan have been reporting gorgeous sunrises and sunsets from the smoke, as well as some cloudy days as smoke passes overhead. The cloud cover has been reported to be thick enough to lower the afternoon temperatures. Intermittent poor air quality is another feature of the travelling smoke, especially when rain brings the high altitude pollution closer to the ground.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 5/18/2023
Resolutions:
1km (340.4 KB), 500m (810.8 KB), 250m (517.5 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Smoke from wildfires raging in Western Canada covered the skies over Michigan and the surrounding Great Lakes in mid-May 2023. On May 18, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image, the cloud of smoke was so thick that most of the blue waters of Lake Michigan (west), northern Lake Huron (east) and the greens land of northern Michigan were obscured from view.
The fires belching this smoke high into the atmosphere, where it can be carried far across North America and the Atlantic Ocean, originate a few thousand miles away in the provinces British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. As of May 16, these fires had scorched 478,000 hectares (1,800 square miles) which is 10-times the average area burned for this time of year.
Local media across Michigan have been reporting gorgeous sunrises and sunsets from the smoke, as well as some cloudy days as smoke passes overhead. The cloud cover has been reported to be thick enough to lower the afternoon temperatures. Intermittent poor air quality is another feature of the travelling smoke, especially when rain brings the high altitude pollution closer to the ground.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 5/18/2023
Resolutions:
1km (340.4 KB), 500m (810.8 KB), 250m (517.5 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
