Colorado: Dead Dog Wildfire
Another fire is catching headlines in Colorado the past few days, it is called the Dead Dog Wildfire located within Dead Dog Gulch. The fire is located approximately 10 miles north-west of Rangely, Colorado. Hot, windy and dry conditions have persisted in northwest Colorado over the past few days, where the fire initiated over the past weekend. According to news outlets, the fire has burned approximately 18,000+ acres so far and will continue to burn more acreage.
To visualize and emphasize the magnitude of the wildfire, one can use the Day/Night Band (DNB) which utilizes a sun/moon reflectance model to illuminate atmospheric features, sense emitted lights and assist in cloud monitoring during the nighttime. A DNB satellite image is shown below, where the fire is located within the highlighted red circle. To complement the DNB, one can also use the I-4 band (3.74um), also provided below, which senses fire ‘hotspots’: areas where the satellite sensor recognizes ‘hot’ regions, expressed in brightness temperatures (i.e. orange, yellow and red colors) on the Earth’s surface.
DNB image taken at 0849Z, 13 June 2017
I-4 Band (3.74um) image taken at 0849Z, 13 June 2017
The latest updates of the fire can be seen via the following link.