The image on the right was taken by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) onboard the ORBVIEW-2 satellite and shows the hazy, polluted air that covered most of the East Coast of the United States during a code red ozone day on Thursday, June 26, 2003.  The animation above from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows how 8-hour average concentrations peaked during the afternoon of June 26 (to restart the animation, click refresh on your Web browser). For more information on ozone pollution, visit EPA's Air Now Web site.

The haze in the SeaWiFS image is visible as the transparent white "veil" covering the East Coast and extending out over the Atlantic Ocean.  This is in contrast to the clouds that cover more of the interior section of the country in the left of the image).  Also, for comparison, the image is shown below along with a SeaWiFS image from a clear day (September 23, 2003).

Clear Day: September 23, 1999	Code Red Ozone Day: June 26, 2003

NOTE: Credit for use of this image should include "Courtesy of ORBIMAGE" or similar and must include the ORBIMAGE logo. 

• Code Red is the second-highest category in the EPA's Air Quality Index scale and is labeled "unhealthy."
  
  
• Everyone may begin to experience health effects and should limit prolonged outdoor exertion during a "code red" day. Members of sensitive groups, such as those with respiratory disease, may experience more serious health effects.
  
  
• Ground-level ozone is formed when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources react chemically in the presence of sunlight.
  
  
• Code red ozone days tend to occur in the presence of strong, stagnating high-pressure systems during summer months when sunlight is most intense and sinking air prevents mixing of pollutants near the ground.