Although the fires that have been burning in Portugal over the last week are now under greater control, the pollution caused by the fires’ emissions is still having an impact on the air quality over the region. This pollution, in the form of carbon monoxide, is detected by the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. This false-color image shows the concentrations of carbon monoxide at an altitude of roughly 3 km (700 millibars) for the period Aug. 1-7, 2003.
Because carbon monoxide is persistent for several weeks, high concentrations are observed in the pollution plumes as they move northward from the region of the fires, which were previously detected by the Terra MODIS sensor.
Image courtesy the NCAR and University of Toronto MOPITT Teams
