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Pyrocumulonimbus clouds in Brazil

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, center) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm, right) images, from 1200 UTC to 1900 UTC on 13 November [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

10-minute Full Disk GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed that a wildfire complex in southern Brazil produced a series of 4-5 pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds on 13 November 2023. The coldest pyroCb cloud-top 10.3 µm brightness temperature was -74.4ºC at 1530 UTC.

GOES-16 Fire Mask (top left), Fire Power (top right), Fire Area (bottom left) and Fire Temperature (bottom right) derived products [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Regarding the wildfire complex that produced those pyroCb clouds, the 4 components of the GOES-16 Fire Detection and Characterization Algorithm (FDCA) are shown above — and a larger-scale view of the Fire Mask component is shown below.

GOES-16 Fire Mask derived product [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

A blend of GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared and “Clean” Infrared Window images with an overlay of GLM Group Points — created using RealEarth — revealed that there were periods of significant lightning activity associated with the largest pyroCb cloud as it drifted southward away from the large wildfire complex.

Blend of GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with an overlay of GLM Group Points, from 1200 UTC to 1900 UTC on 13 November [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

This is likely the fourth confirmed case of a South American pyroCb — in addition, it’s one of the very few pyroCb events documented so far in the tropics.

Categories: Fire detection, GLM, GOES-16, Lightning, RealEarth