High-Resolution Image

Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) anomaly showing deviation of 2008 from the Terra-MODIS 8-year mean. Red areas are where AOT was higher than the 8-year mean, and blue areas are where AOT was lower. We see elevated volcanic emissions from Hawaii, an active fire season in western North America that sent smoke over the area and over the Pacific, and the result of fires in northern Saskatchewan. 2008 also experienced elevated aerosol over the Arabian Sea and India, which was mostly desert dust, and elevated aerosol loading over the Pacific off the coast of northern Asia, due mostly to wildfires in the Asian boreal forests. In contrast, the eastern U.S., western Europe and southeast Asia experienced less than normal AOT, The most striking feature of the AOT anomaly map is the depressed aerosol amounts in the tropical biomass burning regions of central Africa, Indonesia and in particular South America where the annual mean AOT was 0.3 less than the 8-year mean. The explanation for this striking decrease of biomass burning in 2008 requires further analysis.