5-minute GOES-18 (GOES-West) images of Day Land Cloud Fire RGB, Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm), Fire Temperature RGB and “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) with an overlay of Fire Power derived product (a component of the GOES Fire Detection and Characterization Algorithm FDCA) (above) showed thermal signatures associated with wildfires on the island of Maui in Hawai`i during the afternoon... Read More

Deadly fires on the island of Maui occurred in an environment favorable to fire development: dry and windy. What kind of satellite data could be used to assess those conditions? Sentinel-1A overflew the western Hawai’ian islands near sunset on 8 August 2023 (that is, at 0440 UTC on 9 August), as shown above. Widespread 30-knot winds... Read More