Pyrocumulonimbus clouds produced by the Cameron Peak Fire in Colorado
![GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top right), Fire Temperature RGB + GLM Flash Extent Density (bottom left) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm, bottom right) [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2020/09/co_4p-20200906_231053.png)
GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top right), Fire Temperature RGB + GLM Flash Extent Density (bottom left) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm, bottom right) [click to play animation | MP4]
This fire also produced a brief pyroCb cloud on the previous day (below), as shown by a single blue (-40ºC) pixel on the 10.35 µm image at 2301 UTC — however, since no Mesoscale Sector was positioned over the area, the fire was only sampled by 5-minute CONUS Sector images. The presence of cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures of -40ºC and colder assures heterogeneous nucleation of all supercooled water droplets to form ice crystals, thereby meeting the criteria of a pyroCb.
![GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top right), Fire Temperature RGB + GLM Flash Extent Density (bottom left) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm, bottom right) [click to play animation | MP4]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2020/09/co_4p-20200905_230116.png)
GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top right), Fire Temperature RGB + GLM Flash Extent Density (bottom left) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm, bottom right) [click to play animation | MP4]
===== 07 September Update =====
![Suomi NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images, with plots of METAR surface reports [click to enlarge]](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2020/09/200907_0916utc_suomiNPP_viirs_shortwaveInfrared_dayNightBand_Cameron_Peak_Fire_CO_anim.gif)
Suomi NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images, with plots of METAR surface reports [click to enlarge]
A toggle between Shortwave Infrared images from Suomi NPP VIIRS (3.74 µm) and GOES-16 ABI (3.9 µm) is shown below — the shape of the Cameron Peak Fire thermal anomaly as well as locations of ongoing hot fires along its perimeter were more accurately seen in the 375-m resolution VIIRS image, compared to the 2-km resolution (at satellite sub-point) ABI image. The 2 images are time-matched to correspond to the 0922 UTC time of the Suomi NPP satellite’s overpass.