Cloud plume from an industrial source in Ontario, Canada

By Scott Bachmeier • 21 October 2018

Thanks go out to Jason Alumbaugh from NWS Marquette, who sent the following in an email:

“Previous shift here at NWS Marquette passed along interesting feature on satellite last night. Origin of the feature is approx. 49.23 N and 91.00 W (just west of CWDV – Upsala in Ontario) but eventually the plume spread as far south as south central Upper Michigan and northeast Wisconsin (IMT to MNM). Our meteorologists said it looked like a fire and called Environment Canada overnight but they had not heard of anything reported.”

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm), Near-Infrared “Cloud Particle Size” (2.24 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

Taking a look at the initial daytime formation of the plume on 20 October 2018, a very subtle signature could be seen at times in GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, but the plume was more obvious in the Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm), Near-Infrared “Cloud Particle Size” (2.24 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) imagery (above). Emissions from an industrial source (likely a power plant, or perhaps the Domtar paper mill?) acted as cloud condensation nuclei, causing a higher concentration of smaller supercooled cloud droplets downwind of the plume source — and this plume of smaller particles was more reflective and thus appeared brighter in the 1.61/2.24 µm images and warmer (darker gray) in the 3.9 µm images.

Color-enhanced 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared imagery (below) showed the transition from a warmer (darker red) plume during the day — due to enhanced reflection of incoming solar radiation — to a colder (darker blue) plume at night.

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

The higher spatial resolution of MODIS and VIIRS imagery from the polar-orbiting Terra/Aqua and NOAA-20/Suomi NPP satellites offered alternative views of the plume. A comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm), Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images (below) showed the early stage of the plume during the day on 20 October — as was seen with GOES-16, the plume signature was most obvious in the 1.61 µm Snow/Ice and 3.74 µm Shortwave Infrared imagery.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm), Near-Infrared

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm), Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images [click to enlarge]

A nighttime comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm), Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Fog/stratus Brightness Temperature Difference (11.45-3.74 µm) images (below) revealed signatures of the plume at 0716 UTC or 2:16 am CDT on 21 October, after it had traveled nearly 350 miles from the Ontario source to the Green Bay, Wisconsin area. Cloud-top 11.45 µm infrared brightness temperatures of the plume and the surrounding supercooled clouds were generally in the -13º to -16ºC range.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm), Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Fog/stratus BTD (11.45-3.74 µm) images [click to enlarge]

A sequence of nighttime Fog/stratus BTD images from Terra/Aqua MODIS and NOAA-20/Suomi NPP VIIRS (below) showed the plume moving southeastward across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into northeastern Wisconsin. BTD values associated with the plume were in the 3-5ºC range (darker shades of red). [Note: the NOAA-20 VIIRS images are incorrectly labeled as Suomi NPP]

Terra/Aqua MODIS and NOAA-20/Suomi NPP VIIRS Fog/stratus BTD images [click to enlarge]

Categories: Aqua, GOES-16, MODIS, NOAA-20, Suomi NPP, Terra, VIIRS

CIMSS Satellite Blog

CIMSS Satellite Blog

Cloud plume from an industrial source in Ontario, Canada