Fires in Russia = Smoke in Minnesota
Jeff Braun
Many large fires in southern/southeastern Russia have choked the skies with smoke. This image (first image) of the fires (locations outlined in red) was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite late last week (April 17, 2008). Most of these fires are agricultural fires set by people, much as we do over here in the late winter/early spring. However, there are so many buring at the same time with the low, mid, and upper level winds conducive to good ventilation and transport, that this morning’s GOES West Visible Image (April 22, 2008 – second image) shows the smoke plume reaching all the way across Minnesota, touching on wester Wisconsin (plume outlined in yellow).
