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Tunnel Fire in Arizona

By Scott Bachmeier •

Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images [click to enlarge]

A toggle between Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) images at 0954 UTC or 3:54 am local time (above) displayed the nighttime glow and thermal signatures of actively-burning portions of the Tunnel Fire on 20 April 2022. As noted in the Inciweb report, a 10-mile section of the north-south U.S. Highway 89 was closed (from milepost 425 to 435) as the fire crossed that road.

After sunrise, GOES-17 (GOES-West) Fire Temperature RGB, Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm), Fire Power and Fire Temperature images (below) showed how the fire intensified during the day (the Fire Temperature and Fire Power derived products are components of the GOES Fire Detection and Characterization Algorithm FDCA).

GOES-17 Fire Temperature RGB (top left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top right), Fire Power (bottom left) and Fire Temperature (bottom right) [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

A longer animation of GOES-17 Fire Temperature RGB images created using Geo2Grid is shown below. The less-intense signature of the Crooks Fire is also apparent, to the southwest of the more prominent Tunnel Fire.

GOES-17 Fire Temperature RGB images (credit: Tim Schmit, NOAA/NESDIS/ASPB) [click to play MP4 animation]

Categories: Fire detection, Geo2Grid, GOES-17, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS