MSGID: 1:317/3 648f4658   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   June 18, 2023 - Wildfire Smoke over the Central United States   
      
      Smoke   
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      Smoke from intense wildland fires in Canada billowed over the upper   
      Midwest in June 2023, causing hazy skies and hazardous air quality in   
      Canada and across several U.S. states.   
      
      The image above—acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging   
      Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite—shows smoke drifting   
      across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota on June 14,   
      2023. Most of the smoke blew south from Canada, where blazes continued   
      to rage across several provinces. Over 400 fires were active across the   
      country that day, half of which were classified as out of control,   
      according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).   
      
      Air quality that day was especially poor in Minnesota. The skyline of   
      Minneapolis was blanketed with haze, reminiscent of the skylines in   
      major cities in the Northeast a week prior. At 5 p.m. local time on   
      June 14, air quality monitors in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Cloud   
      recorded levels deemed “very unhealthy” (code purple) on the AQI scale.   
      
      Hazy skies in the Midwest were also observed by a global network of   
      ground sensors called the Aerosols Robotic Network, or AERONET, which   
      is comprised of more than 500 carefully calibrated Sun photometer   
      instruments that measure aerosol optical depth (AOD) around the world.   
      AOD is a measure of how much light is absorbed or reflected by   
      particles of dust, natural aerosols, or pollutants in the air.   
      
      A clear blue sky would produce a very low AOD value of less than 0.05.   
      An AOD reading of 3 would indicate very hazy skies that would make it   
      difficult even to see the Sun. On June 14, an AERONET sensor in central   
      North Dakota recorded an average AOD of 2.1, and a sensor in Madison,   
      Wisconsin, recorded an average AOD of 1.2. The average AOD value on   
      that day in Madison is 0.3.   
      
      Smoke from the wildfires continued to move south and east on June 15.   
      According to the National Weather Service, air quality alerts for   
      Wisconsin and Minnesota were still in effect on that day.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 6/14/2023   
      Resolutions:  1km (1.3 MB),   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-06-18   
       
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