SMOKE's A COMING____FIRMS Satellite Wildfire Maps

[Chas Tennis]

FIRMS/USA Canada is a government website that shows wildfires and smoke maps as observed by satellites. I just learned how to see smoke. Smoke may only be visible for fires with larger burning areas when the satellite passes over.

NASA-FIRMS

Fire Information for Resource Management System US / Canada

firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov

(.....or search FIRMS/US CANADA
HISTORICAL
1 day
Select date of August 20, 2020)


Go down to
BACKGROUNDS

Select
MODIS/Terra

Expand the map to look at the smoke plumes from the fires.

This shows the fires and smoke around the Bay Area on August 20, 2020. You can also go through the beginning of the fires starting at August 16, before the lightening storm that ignited many of the larger fires. Notice that some of the fires are larger than San Francisco Bay.

 

[Dartagnan64]

Kind of getting sick of these smoke filled Augusts. Can't imagine they are doing my lungs any good.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Kind of getting sick of these smoke filled Augusts. Can't imagine they are doing my lungs any good.

The advice we got on the news was to 'stay indoors and close the windows and doors'. That was not good advice for me. When the smoke got to AQI 400 my HEPAs were only able to get the condo down to AQI 200. I discovered many leaks with a hand held sensor. Front door, fireplace, the closet with my air handler had holes in the top that led to the attic. When the attic was at AQI 400, those small leaks fed smoke directly into my air handler with no filtering, other leaks.... You need leaks because all houses must ventilate a lot, but not excessive leaks,.......safety issues.....

I don't think that my house is rare regarding leaks, so people that do not measure air quality probably breath a lot of smoke for days, if they only 'stay home and close the doors and windows'. Especially bad for very young, the old and people with conditions. Search for details.

I recommend that you get some HEPA air cleaners, 2+ years worth of filters, a PurpleAir indoor sensor and a portable hand held sensor like a *emtop, all for particle size 2.5 um and smaller measurements and filtering. I also have a CO2 monitor to make sure there is enough condo ventilation and Oxygen levels inside are within recommendations.

You can look at the smoke near you now with PurpleAir Maps. Get the map location and size that you want and bookmark it on your PC and phone.

No electrical power? Use an N95 mask.

 

[ChaelAZ]

We've had a really bad year in Arizona. Gah. Actually had to change plans from camping locally to going to Colorado

 

[Chas Tennis]

We've had a really bad year in Arizona. Gah. Actually had to change plans from camping locally to going to Colorado

My historic example was selected to show smoke.

I hope that you can look at your area at the CURRENT time. Smoke may be hard to find if the named fires are old or small.

Let me know if you are able to view any smoke.

Just get the website, FIRMS US/Canada

Map to location & size. Suggest 100 miles from your location to start, and get fires near edge.

CURRENT
24 hrs
Active Fires USA

Down to
BACKGROUNDS
MODIS/Terra ..

Expand around the named fires and look for the red signals that indicate fires. See if smoke is visible from the named fires or fires around them (old fires).

Please let me know of any problems with my instructions.

 

[Chas Tennis]

We've had a really bad year in Arizona. Gah. Actually had to change plans from camping locally to going to Colorado

Here is a map of Arizona and Colorado. The named fires do not show smoke. They may be old or small. The Yellow is an indicator of two "OMPS" Aerosol indexes, I don't understand those yet.

NASA-FIRMS

Fire Information for Resource Management System US / Canada

firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov

Go to BACKGROUNDS and click MODIS terra or one of the two VIIRS to see clouds and smoke.

They have another option to display current danger of wildfires.

They warn that cloud cover may prevent satellite observations.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Here is the fire and smoke from the Dixie, Bootleg and Tarmarack wildfires. If the map is black and no smoke, the satellite last went over at night. Look at the dates above the map.

Click - Current
Under - Current - click "24 hrs"
Under - Active Alerts - click "USA Active Fires"
Under - Backgrounds - click "Modis".... satellite.

NASA-FIRMS

Fire Information for Resource Management System US / Canada

firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov

Current weather reports say that the Dixie fire may soon send some smoke south. Be aware of the forecasts for your plans. It is apparent that the Dixie fire has been more active and produced more smoke in the last few days than the Bootleg fire. But the news has not caught up.

Also, one news network repeated that CA has had more fires and smoke in 2021 than in 2020. That is not true. You can look at the historic maps days around August 20, 2020 and find several very large fires.

 

[Chas Tennis]

The winds shift at this time of year in CA(TV weatherman). In past weeks, the fires in Northern California have been sending nearly all of their smoke to north and east. Now that will change to the south then east.

Look at the FIRMS US / Canada satellite map to see what is going on.

NASA-FIRMS

Fire Information for Resource Management System US / Canada

firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov

Settings
CURRENT
Today

Active Alerts
USA Alerts

Dynamic Imagery
MODIS/Terra

If fires show but maps are black, the last satellite pass available was at night. I think MODIS/Terra now shows 1st image of the day at about 12 PM noon ET. If background is black scan to the east to see where the satellite

 

[Chas Tennis]

This map shows the directions that the Caldor & Dixie fire plumes are blowing in. It updates so when those fires are out, look for other big fires. The Dixie Fire is north & west of lake Tahoe and the Caldor fire is close and to the south and west.

0.86 micrometer wavelength Satellite map.

GOES-West - Sector view: Pacific Northwest - Band 3 - NOAA / NESDIS / STAR

Near real-time publication of GOES-East and GOES-West images from NOAA/NESDIS/STAR

www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov

Go to the top of the page showing the loop video. Click the down ^ to see all the other displays of wavelengths and mixtures of wavelengths. Select another to see how it displays fires, smoke, clouds and the other things being measured. You can also display the fires and smoke over a longer time.

 

[movdqa]

We had air quality issues back a few months ago but things have been okay since then. I think that the smoke has been rising north of us since early summer. The recommendation was to stay indoors when air quality was bad.

 

[Chas Tennis]

We had air quality issues back a few months ago but things have been okay since then. I think that the smoke has been rising north of us since early summer. The recommendation was to stay indoors when air quality was bad.

Forget the advice to stay indoors when air quality is bad. Do it, but measure the air quality of your air or else you may be breathing very high levels of smoke in your air. That was my experience, even with HEPA's running, because my house had air leaks with windows and doors closed. The air handler even pulled in some smoky air into the small closet room (for the air handler) below my attic. My considerable air cleaning capacity was overwhelmed. I had more than 60% of outdoor AQI inside my home! I even ran a HEPA vacuum cleaner for 40 minutes.

I went around my house with a hand held PM2.5 meter and closed off the worst leaks. You can't seal too many leaks in your home or CO2 will build up from residents breathing and that could be dangerous. Have a CO2 meter to monitor the CO2 level in your air. Search: home ventilation.

View a PurpleAir Map for your area. The circles with black rings are indoor sensors. The ones with no black rings are outdoor sensors. Some of the homes have air purifiers, some don't. Compare indoor and outdoor air quality levels. You will find many homes that are say 90+AQI indoors, with 130 at nearby outdoor sensors. Those are probably homes with windows and doors closed and no indoor air cleaners at work or just bad leaks that the owners have no idea are there.

It's the Smoke Advice Nuthouse

 

[Ronaldo]

Awoke 5:30am, filled a cooler with Coke Zero sugar, purified water and ice. Loaded the cooler into my trunk for my wifey. She left at 7am. Noticed extreme fog before 8am. Discovered it was Wildfire Smoke according to the weather report. Could barely see across the street where kids wait for a school bus. Txt'd my wife who works in-town. She said it was nothing but clear skies there. Disconcerting, this smoke from a distant fire.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Awoke 5:30am, filled a cooler with Coke Zero sugar, purified water and ice. Loaded the cooler into my trunk for my wifey. She left at 7am. Noticed extreme fog before 8am. Discovered it was Wildfire Smoke according to the weather report. Could barely see across the street where kids wait for a school bus. Txt'd my wife who works in-town. She said it was nothing but clear skies there. Disconcerting, this smoke from a distant fire.

If you see the smoke over short distances that is very heavy smoke pollution. WEAR AN N95 MASK

Look at PurpleAir and see the smoke levels near you.

Say into Google box on your phone OR search PurpleAir Map
"PurpleAir Map"

AQI is the air quality for particulates including wildfire smoke. AQI is measured by PurpleAir sensors near your home.

Get a HEPA air cleaner(s). I use Honeywell HPA300 or 200. If you have electricity you can clean your air.

Get PurpleAir Indoor sensor to see your indoor air quality.

Satellite image including the LA area fires. Click on the fire showing a lot of smoke - Bridge Fire

NASA-FIRMS

Fire Information for Resource Management System US / Canada

firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov

Are you near the Bridge Fire?