Fires in eastern Kansas and Oklahoma

By Scott Bachmeier • 11 April 2017

GOES-16 (left) and GOES-13 (right) Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images [click to play animation]

A comparison of GOES-16 and GOES-13 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (above) showed numerous fire “hot spot” signatures (black to yellow to red pixels, with red being the hottest) from prescribed burning across the Flint Hills region of eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma on 11 April 2017. Such fires are an annual tradition in this area, required to preserve the tallgrass prairies — for example, over 2.7 million acres were burned during Spring 2016. The 2-km spatial resolution (at satellite sub-point) and 5-minute scan interval of GOES-16 allowed for more accurate detection and monitoring of the fires (compared to the 4-km spatial resolution and 15-30 minute scan interval of GOES-13).

The corresponding Visible GOES-16 (0.64 µm) vs GOES-13 (0.63 µm) images (below) tracked the development and transport of smoke from the fires. Hourly reports of surface visibility (in statute miles) are plotted in red; at Fort Riley, Kansas, smoke reduced the visibility from 10.0 miles at 21 UTC to 1.0 mile at 23 UTC, adversely affecting air quality there.

GOES-16 Visible (0.64 µm, left) and GOES-13 Visible (0.63 µm, right) images, with hourly reports of surface visibility (statute miles, red) [click to play animation]

Categories: Air quality, Fire detection, GOES-13, GOES-16