Satellites see pollution from Canada fires

GREENBELT, Md., July 28 (UPI) -- Water pouring over Niagara Falls has company, in the form of pollution from fires in Canada more than 1,000 miles away, U.S. satellite observation revealed.

Two NASA satellites, Aqua and Terra, have provided visual evidence of smoke and pollution from fires in western Ontario that have spread over Niagara Falls and east to Nova Scotia, a release from the space agency said Thursday.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument on each satellite, which can detect heat signatures and identify "hot spots" where fires are still burning, captured images between July 18-20 of the wildfires burning in Ontario with smoke streaming toward the Great Lakes.

The Nova Scotia Chronicle Herald reported smoke from those fires had reached Nova Scotia and Newfoundland by the end of that week.

The satellite data provided a measurement of what is called "Aerosol Optical Depth," a measurement of how smoke and pollution block the transmission of light in the atmosphere.

James Acker, an oceanographer at the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center, has been studying the satellite data.

"By averaging the data, we can see the full extent of smoke from the fires, which can be a health hazard," Acker said. "The AOD data also clearly indicates where the smoke is, and distinguishes it from weather clouds."