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Pyrocumulonimbus cloud in northwestern Canada

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, top right), “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm, bottom left) and Fire Temperature RGB (bottom right) images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Sector GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm), “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) and Fire Temperature RGB images (above) showed a wildfire just southwest of Yellowknife (CYZF) in Canada’s Northwest Territories, which produced a pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud during the afternoon hours on 12 July 2022.

This large fire burned very hot, with 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared brightness temperatures reaching 138.71ºC — which is the saturation temperature of ABI Band 7 detectors. The coldest pyroCb cloud-top 10.35 µm Infrared Window brightness temperatures were around -49ºC (lighter shades of blue).

Categories: Fire detection, GOES-17