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Wildfire signatures viewed by GOES-17, GOES-18 and GOES-16

By Scott Bachmeier •

Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images from GOES-17 (left), GOES-18 (center) and GOES-16 (right) [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

A 3-panel comparison of 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images from GOES-17 (GOES-West), GOES-18 (*preliminary, non-operational*) and GOES-16 (GOES-East) (above) showed the hot thermal anomaly (darker black to red pixels) of the Calf Canyon Fire/Hermits Peak Fire in northern New Mexico on 11 May 2022. The images are displayed in the native projection of each satellite.

Farther to the west, a similar comparison of Shortwave Infrared images from GOES-17 / GOES-18 / GOES-16 — with a different color enhancement applied — is shown for the Coastal Fire in Southern California.

Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images from GOES-17 (left), GOES-18 (center) and GOES-16 (right) [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

The fire’s thermal signature began to rapidly diminish in GOES imagery by 03 UTC — but a distinct signature was still evident on a 375-meter resolution Suomi-NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) image at 0941 UTC (below).

Suomi-NPP VIIRS Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) image at 0941 UTC [click to enlarge]

Categories: Fire detection, GOES-16, GOES-17, GOES-18, Suomi NPP, VIIRS