NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite, PACE, has captured unusually detailed images of smoke from Canadian wildfires drifting across the Great Lakes. The images show gray-tan wisps of smoke streaking from north to south, with bright white clouds on the other side of the frame and green and brown land visible beneath the haze.
A satellite designed for ocean color spots something else entirely
The PACE mission, which stands for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, launched in February 2024. Its primary job is to study ocean health by measuring the color of seawater. But its Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) can also detect aerosols tiny particles in the air. That capability turned PACE into an accidental fire watcher.
On May 31, 2025, the satellite passed over North America and recorded smoke pouring from wildfires burning in Canada. The smoke traveled south over the Great Lakes, where the satellite's sensors picked up fine details about the particles' size, shape, and composition. Scientists say this kind of data helps them understand how smoke moves and changes as it travels.
Why Canadian communities and their neighbors pay close attention
The wildfires that produced this smoke were burning in Canada, a country that has seen increasingly severe fire seasons in recent years. Local residents in affected provinces faced evacuation orders, poor air quality, and health warnings. The smoke did not stay in Canada. It drifted across the border into the United States, triggering air quality alerts in several states.
For people living near the Great Lakes, the visible haze was a reminder of how fire seasons are changing. Communities on both sides of the border have grown accustomed to summer skies filled with smoke. The PACE data gives scientists a new tool to track where that smoke goes and what it contains.
What the satellite sees that others miss
PACE can detect a wider range of light wavelengths than older satellites. This allows it to distinguish between different types of aerosols, such as smoke, dust, and pollution. In the case of the Canadian fires, the satellite identified smoke particles that were absorbing sunlight, which affects how the smoke heats the atmosphere.
The mission also measures cloud properties at the same time. In the May 31 image, bright clouds sat alongside the smoke plumes. Scientists can use this combined data to study how smoke influences cloud formation and weather patterns.
A new view of an old problem
Wildfires have burned in Canada for millennia. What has changed is their frequency, intensity, and the amount of smoke they produce. The PACE mission offers a fresh perspective on these fires by providing continuous, high-resolution observations from space. The data helps researchers track smoke plumes in real time and improve models that predict air quality.
For the people living under those smoky skies, the satellite's findings are more than scientific curiosities. They represent a clearer picture of what is in the air they breathe and where it came from.
