A CSPP Geosphere mp4 animation from late on 10 September, above (link), shows the development of a pyrocumulus cloud at the south edge of the Cedar Creek fire complex in Oregon (previously discussed here, here and here). The animation above starts at 2101 UTC, shortly after a NOAA-20 overpass above the region. NUCAPS profiles over the regions can define the thermodynamics to help forecasters determine is pyrocumulus clouds might develop. The Green points in the sounding availability plots, below, denote retrievals that converged to a solution using both microwave and infrared data from the ATMS and CrIS instruments, respectively. This includes the profiles near the very warm Cedar Creek fire pixels in east-central Oregon. (Here is a zoomed-in view over the fire with GOES-17 FDCA Fire Power observations; note the two different regions of active fire).

The animation below steps through 3 NUCAPS profiles near the fire. A dry atmosphere is apparent, but note also the very steep lapse rates. If convection develops, aided by the heat of the fire, there is little to inhibit its growth to the tropopause.

NUCAPS profiles can be gridded to provide horizontal fields of thermodynamic variables. The lapse rate computed from 850 and 500 mb temperatures, below, also shows very steep lapse rates (note that portions of Oregon are at/above 850 mb and no data are available).

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One things that happens when a Pyrocumulus develops: the cloud is trackable (in contrast to any surrounding smoke). The CSPP Geosphere animation below (link) shows the Night Microphysics (at night) and True-Color (during the day) — the cloud can be tracked until is dissipates near dawn, and the true-color imagery the next day shows the smoke associated with the pyrocumulus has also moved to the east. Note also in the animation how the active fires show up in the GOES-17 Night Microphysics as different shades of magenta.

Although infrared imagery is challenged to view smoke at night, as suggested in the animation above, the VIIRS Day Night band sees it (if there is sufficient illumination by the Moon). That was the case early on 11 September, as shown below (in an image taken from the VIIRS Today website). Both the light signature from fires are apparent as is the smoke plume from the pyrocumulus.

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AWIPS Satellite imagery in this blog post were created using the TOWR-S AWIPS. Thank you!

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A previous post discussed the 5.1 micrometer channel that might be part of the imager (GXI) to fly on GeoXO, the next-generation satellite (beyond GOES-R) to be launched in the 2030s. That previous post, however, used Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) data, and CrIS observes close to, but not at, 5.1 micrometers. However, the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) that is part of the payload on Metop-B and Metop-C (it was on Metop-A as well!) does take observations at 5.1 micrometers. The animation shows a Metop-A IASI observations at 5.1, 6.19, 6.9 and 7.3 micrometers (or wavenumbers 1950, 1615, 1438 and 1369) from a granule over Europe. Of note is apparent moisture aloft — shown as cooler brightness temperatures especially at 6.9 micrometers — that has no apparent signal at 5.1 micrometers because of less sensitivity to mid-tropospheric water vapor at the shorter wavelength. Indeed, 5.1 micrometer brightness temperatures are much warmer than the other channels.

A greyscaled image of 5.1 micrometers, below, shows how the boundary layer influences the signal in clear air.

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What did geostationary imagery look like on this day? Meteosat-8 imagery at 6.19 and 7.3 micrometers is shown below.

How dry was this airmass over the Mediterranean? Soundings from 0000 and 1200 UTC on 15 January 2007 (link, from the Wyoming Sounding site) show total precipitable water values between 10 and 14 mm.

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The addition of the 5.1 micrometer channel is designed to aid in convective forecasting: gradients in water vapor very low in the atmosphere should be apparent.

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An extended period of hot temperatures across much of the western US — where drought conditions were widespread — helped set the stage for large wildfires which produced several pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds in parts of Oregon, Idaho and California during the 07-10 September 2022 period.

===== 07 September =====

GOES-18 (GOES-West) Day Land Cloud Fire RGB images (above) displayed numerous wildfires (clusters of red pixels) from far eastern Oregon into Idaho on 07 September 2022. Three of the larger fires — one in Oregon and two in Idaho — produced one or more pulses of pyroCb clouds during the day.

1-minute GOES-18 True Color RGB images visualized using CSPP GeoSphere (below) showed the smoke-laden cloud tops (shades of tan) associated with some of the pyroCb pulses from the eastern Oregon and central Idaho wildfires.

4-panel displays of 1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 Day Land Cloud Fire RGB, Shortwave Infrared (3.9µm), “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) and Cloud Top Temperature (below) provided a closer view of a vigorous pyroCb produced by the Moose Fire in far eastern Idaho (near the Montana border). During that time period, the maximum surface 3.9 µm infrared brightness temperature of the fire signature reached 137.88^oC (the saturation temperature of GOES-18 ABI Band 7 detectors). The coldest pyroCb cloud-top 10.35 µm infrared brightness temperatures were -52^oC, while the coldest Cloud Top Temperature derived product values were around -56^oC.

===== 08 September =====

1-minute GOES-17 (which resumed duty as GOES-West as of 1601 UTC on 08 September) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed a “marginal” pyroCb produced by the Mosquito Fire in California on 08 September 2022, whose coldest cloud-top 10.35 µm infrared brightness temperature reached -39^oC (just shy of the -40^oC threshold of pyroCb classification) — however, the Cloud Top Temperature derived product (not shown) did reach -42^oC.

1-minute GOES-17 True Color RGB images (below) displayed the smoke-laden (shades of tan) cloud top of this “marginal pyroCb”.

===== 10 September =====

As discussed in this blog post, the Cedar Creek Fire in Oregon had been producing a large smoke plume during the day on 09 September — and this trend continued into the overnight hours, as shown by a Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image valid at 1020 UTC on 10 September (below). Ample illumination by a Full Moon provided an excellent example of the “visible image at night” capability of the Day/Night Band (DNB).

In a closer view of of the Cedar Creek Fire, a toggle between the corresponding Suomi-NPP VIIRS DNB and Shortwave Infrared images (below) displayed the bright nighttime glow of the more active individual fires (as well as the dense smoke plume drifting northwestward) in the DNB image — and the thermal signature of fires along the northwestern perimeter was evident in the Shortwave Infrared image, even though the dense smoke plume was overhead.

During the subsequent daytime hours, a sequence of 1-minute GOES-17 Day Land Cloud Fire RGB, Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm), “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) and Cloud Top Temperature product (below) showed that the Cedar Creek Fire produced a pyroCb cloud late in the day on 10 September 2022. During that particular time period, the maximum surface 3.9 µm infrared brightness temperature of the fire signature reached 138.71^oC (the saturation temperature of GOES-17 ABI Band 7 detectors). The coldest cloud-top 10.35 µm infrared brightness temperature was -45^oC, while the coldest Cloud Top Temperature derived product value was -49^oC.

1-minute GOES-17 True Color RGB images (below) showed the Cedar Creek Fire pyroCb rising through and towering above the large pall of lower-altitude smoke.

During the following overnight hours, a toggle between Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Shortwave Infrared (11.45 µm) images valid at 1002 UTC (below) revealed that the nighttime glow and thermal signature of larger active fires along the perimeter of the Cedar Creek Fire were still apparent, in spite of dense smoke that lingered over the area and high clouds that were beginning to move overhead from the west.

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CSPP Geosphere animations from GOES-West (above, link) and GOES-East (below, link) both show an active fire — the Cedar Creek fire — over Oregon (previously discussed here). Low-level winds (as shown in the 1200 UTC sounding from Medford OR) are moving the smoke plume out over the Pacific Ocean. The oblique side-view from GOES-East (below) gives a better view of the structure of the smoke plume.

Later in the day, a brief pyrocumulus jump ejected smoke to higher altitudes, where westerly winds prevailed:

A pyrocumulus jump associated with the #CedarCreekFire ejected smoke to higher altitudes (at least 7.5 km), where westerly winds transported some of the smoke eastward – @NOAASatellites #GOES17/#GOESwest True Color RGB images: https://t.co/UPGA0MMeHB; @NWSPortland #ORwx pic.twitter.com/wk9Y69UKSQ

— Scott Bachmeier (@CIMSS_Satellite) September 10, 2022

Fires over Idaho are also producing smoke that has been trapped in valleys, as shown below. Much of Idaho is under an Air Quality Alert (link). A current map of Air Quality can be viewed here. The image from 2000 UTC on 9 September is here.

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