![](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2024\/05\/240529_goes18_4panel_BC_pyroCb_anim.gif\")
<\/a>GOES-18 Day Land Cloud Fire RGB (top left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 \u00b5m, top right), \u201cClean\u201d Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m, bottom left) and \u201cRed\u201d Visible (0.64 \u00b5m) images with an overlay of the Fire Mask derived product (bottom right), from 1900 UTC on 29 May to 0200 UTC on 30 May [click to play animated GIF | MP4<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/div>10-minute Full Disk sector GOES-18\u00a0(GOES-West)<\/em>\u00a0Day Land Cloud Fire RGB<\/strong><\/a>, Shortwave Infrared (3.9 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>), \u201cClean\u201d Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) and \u201cRed\u201d Visible (0.64 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) images with an overlay of the Fire Mask derived product (a component of the GOES Fire Detection and Characterization Algorithm FDCA<\/strong><\/a>) (above)<\/strong><\/em> displayed signatures of a wildfire in far northeastern British Columbia, which produced 2 pyrocumulonimbus<\/strong><\/a> (pyroCb) clouds \u2014 exhibiting cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures in the -40s to -50s C, denoted by shades of blue to red in the 10.3 \u00b5m images \u2014 late in the day on 29 May 2024 (Canada\u2019s first pyroCb clouds of their 2024 wildfire season were observed on 13 May<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n A similar animation that includes GOES-18 Visible images with an overlay of the Fire Power derived product — another component of the FDCA — is shown below.<\/p>\n GOES-18 Day Land Cloud Fire RGB (top left), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 \u00b5m, top right), \u201cClean\u201d Infrared Window (10.3 \u00b5m, bottom left) and \u201cRed\u201d Visible (0.64 \u00b5m) images with an overlay of the Fire Power derived product (bottom right), from 1900 UTC on 29 May to 0200 UTC on 30 May [click to play animated GIF | MP4<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/div>GOES-18 True Color RGB images from the\u00a0CSPP GeoSphere<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0site\u00a0(below)<\/strong><\/em> displayed several plumes of low-altitude wildfire smoke, followed by the explosive development of the 2 high-altitude pyroCb clouds (which then drifted to the northwest).<\/p>\n GOES-18 True Color RGB images, from 1800 UTC on 29 May to 0200 UTC on 30 May [click to play MP4 animation]<\/p><\/div>The coldest 10.3 \u00b5m infrared brightness temperature sensed for each of the 2 pyroCb clouds was -52\u00baC. According to rawinsonde data<\/strong><\/a> from nearby Fort Nelson, BC (CYYE), this represented a pressure level of 307 hPa or an altitude around 8.9 km (below)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Plot of rawinsonde data from Fort Nelson, BC at 0000 UTC on 30 May [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>This wildfire burned very hot, exhibiting a peak 3.9 \u00b5m shortwave infrared brightness temperature of 137.88\u00baC (which is the saturation temperature of GOES-18 ABI<\/strong><\/a> Band 7 detectors) \u2014 at 2250 UTC (below)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>