APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5344
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by APOD Robot » Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:06 am

Image Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth

Explanation: It was just another day on aerosol Earth. For August 23, 2018, the identification and distribution of aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere is shown in this dramatic, planet-wide digital visualization. Produced in real time, the Goddard Earth Observing System Forward Processing (GEOS FP) model relies on a combination of Earth-observing satellite and ground-based data to calculate the presence of types of aerosols, tiny solid particles and liquid droplets, as they circulate above the entire planet. This August 23rd model shows black carbon particles in red from combustion processes, like smoke from the fires in the United States and Canada, spreading across large stretches of North America and Africa. Sea salt aerosols are in blue, swirling above threatening typhoons near South Korea and Japan, and the hurricane looming near Hawaii. Dust shown in purple hues is blowing over African and Asian deserts. The location of cities and towns can be found from the concentrations of lights based on satellite image data of the Earth at night.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>

Guest

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by Guest » Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:56 am

Looks like clean air to me except for third world areas like the west coast of the US and Congo.

Boomer12k
:---[===] *
Posts: 2691
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:07 am

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by Boomer12k » Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:26 am

And CFC aerosols...

:---[===] *

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by orin stepanek » Sat Apr 18, 2020 11:00 am

atmosphere_geo5_2018235_eq1200.jpg
A lot of stuff in the air! :shock:
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
Redbone
Ensign
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:14 am
Location: Frederick Maryland, USA

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by Redbone » Sat Apr 18, 2020 12:08 pm

There was not that much snow in Alaska in August. The baseline ground picture, possibly a composite, was taken in winter.

Geo

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by Geo » Sat Apr 18, 2020 12:52 pm

What a dreamy, surreal beautiful picture.
I would like to see what it would look like today with the global Corona shutdown.

BDanielMayfield
Don't bring me down
Posts: 2524
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:24 am
AKA: Bruce
Location: East Idaho

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:20 pm

Geo wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 12:52 pm What a dreamy, surreal beautiful picture.
I would like to see what it would look like today with the global Corona shutdown.
Today we are before the fire season revs up in the northern hemisphere, so << smoke from wildfires. Otherwise much the same except for seasonal variations in where high winds are blowing.
Just as zero is not equal to infinity, everything coming from nothing is illogical.

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18111
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:00 pm

Boomer12k wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:26 am And CFC aerosols...
Art probably knows best, but I don't think CFCs are present in the upper atmosphere as aerosols, unless they hijack a ride on other aerosols. Mostly I think they're just diffuse gases.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by neufer » Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:24 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:00 pm
Boomer12k wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:26 am
And CFC aerosols...
Art probably knows best, but I don't think CFCs are present in the upper atmosphere as aerosols, unless they hijack a ride on other aerosols. Mostly I think they're just diffuse gases.
CFCs are gases that become dangerous (to ozone) when they:
  • 1) hijack a ride on Polar Stratospheric Cloud ice particles
    2) and are then exposed to sunlight.
Stratospheric pressures are low enough that ice particles sublimate directly into water vapor.
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1578
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by JohnD » Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:47 pm

If the high spots over the West Coast of USA are due to forest fires, what is happening in the Congo?

BDanielMayfield
Don't bring me down
Posts: 2524
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:24 am
AKA: Bruce
Location: East Idaho

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:50 pm

JohnD wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:47 pm If the high spots over the West Coast of USA are due to forest fires, what is happening in the Congo?
Just a guess John, but slash and burn agriculture?
Just as zero is not equal to infinity, everything coming from nothing is illogical.

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18111
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:50 pm

JohnD wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:47 pm If the high spots over the West Coast of USA are due to forest fires, what is happening in the Congo?
Forest clearing and slash burning. Fires, just not "wild" ones.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21571
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by bystander » Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:51 pm

JohnD wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:47 pm If the high spots over the West Coast of USA are due to forest fires, what is happening in the Congo?
seasonal agricultural burnoff
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

BDanielMayfield
Don't bring me down
Posts: 2524
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:24 am
AKA: Bruce
Location: East Idaho

Re: APOD: Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth (2020 Apr 18)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:55 pm

bystander wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:51 pm
JohnD wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:47 pm If the high spots over the West Coast of USA are due to forest fires, what is happening in the Congo?
seasonal agricultural burnoff
Consensus :!:
Just as zero is not equal to infinity, everything coming from nothing is illogical.

Post Reply