Okreek Fire in south-central South Dakota
GOES-11 + GOES-15 + GOES-13 visible channel images
Strong southerly winds (gusting as high as 50 mph) helped a large grassland fire (named the Okreek fire) spread rapidly northward across south-central South Dakota during the afternoon hours on 05 October 2011. The light gray smoke plume and the dark burn scar grew very quickly, which could be seen on GOES-11 (GOES-West), GOES-15, and GOES-13 (GOES-East) visible channel images (above). Each of the 3 sets of images is displayed in the native projection of the respective satellite.
The corresponding 3.9 µm shortwave IR images from each satellite (below) showed the large and intense “hot spot” (dark black to yellow pixels) associated with the Okreek fire. Note there were also a few other smaller fires burning in other parts of central South Dakota during that time period, which also exhibited very intense hot spot signatures.
GOES-11 + GOES-15 + GOES-13 shortwave IR images
A comparison of 250-meter resolution false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images from the SSEC MODIS Today site from before (04 October), during (05 October), and after (07 October) the Okreek fire revealed the development and growth of the 26 mile long burn scar (which appears as the light brown line). The bright pink feature on the 05 October image was the heat signature of the active front line of the fire, which was rapidly advancing northward on that day.
MODIS false-color RGB images from 04 October, 05 October, and 07 October 2011