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Reynolds Creek Fire in Glacier National Park, Montana

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-15 (left) and GOES-13 (right) visible and shorwave IR images [click to play animation]

GOES-15 (left) and GOES-13 (right) visible and shorwave IR images [click to play animation]

Shown above (click image to play animation; also available as an MP4 movie file) is a 4-panel comparison of GOES-15 (GOES-West, left panels) and GOES-13 (GOES-East, right panels) 0.63 µm visible channel images (top) and 3.9 µm shortwave IR images (bottom) which showed the development of the the long smoke plume and the fire hot spot (dark black to red shortwave IR pixels)  associated with the Reynolds Creek Fire (InciWeb | Wildfire Today) which began to burn in the eastern portion of the Glacier National Park in Montana around 2145 UTC or 3:43 pm local time on 21 July 2015. A Red Flag Warning was in effect for the region, due to the combination of warm temperature with low relative humidity, and strong southwesterly winds (gusting to 30 mph at Cut Bank and 29 mph at Browning).

Another sequence of GOES-15 visible channel images is shown below (click image to play animation; also available as a MP4 movie file). Another smaller smoke plume can be seen originating from a fire in far southeastern British Columbia.

GOES-15 visible channel images [click to play animation]

GOES-15 visible channel images [click to play animation]

As it continued to burn into the following night; a comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR and 0.8 µm Day/Night Band images at 0958 UTC or 3:58 am local time (below) revealed the hot spot (yellow to red to black pixels) and the bright glow of the fire.

Suomi NPP VIIRS shortwave IR and Day/Night Band images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS shortwave IR and Day/Night Band images [click to enlarge]

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Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR images [click to enlarge]

On the following day (22 July), consecutive afternoon (1944 and 2122 UTC) Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR channel images (above) revealed changes in the shape and areal coverage of the fire hot spot (dark black pixels); the corresponding VIIRS Red/Green/Blue (RGB) true-color images (below) still showed a smoke plume, though is was not as large as that seen on the GOES visible imagery from the previous day.

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color RGB images

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color RGB images

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On 23 July, daytime (1925 and 2104 UTC) Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR and true-color RGB images (below) continued to display large fire hot spots and a smoke plume drifting toward the east-northeast. The size of the Reynolds Creek Fire was estimated to have increased to 4000 acres.

Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR and true-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µm shortwave IR and true-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

Categories: Fire detection, GOES-13, GOES-15, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS