“Hot spot” from the fire that caused the deadly I-75 crashes in Florida?
POES AVHRR 3.74 µm shortwave IR image
Thick smoke from a 62-acre brush fire that was burning in the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park just southwest of Gainesville, Florida (station identifier KGNV) was blamed for causing a deadly multiple-vehicle crash along Interstate 75 at around 07:45 UTC (3:45 am local time) on 29 January 2012. Detection of the fire “hot spot” on shortwave IR satellite imagery was difficult due to the relatively small size of the fire, and the fact that some thin cirrus clouds were drifting over the region. However, evidence of what could be the fire hot spot was seen on a 06:58 UTC AWIPS image of 1-km resolution POES AVHRR 3.74 µm data (above), with an IR brightness temperature (BT) of +9 C at the darker black pixel that is circled.
The fire “hot spot” was a bit easier to see on a 06:53 UTC McIDAS image of 375-meter resolution Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm data (below). The darker black pixel that is circled exhibited an IR brightness temperature of +24.7 C.
Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR image