Carr Fire
It has been a very active fire season in California. Another fire burning in the state, is the Carr Fire, located in Shasta County, just west of Redding, CA. Over 44,000+ acres have burned with only 3% containment as of 27 July 2018. According to sources, the mechanical failure of a vehicle is presumed to be the cause of the fire.
The Carr Fire was observed by the Near-Constant Contrast (NCC) product, derived from the Day/Night Band (DNB, 0.7um) sensor, apart of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on-board the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite. The NCC produces ‘nighttime visible’ satellite imagery, and in this case (see NCC image below, at 0909Z, 27 July 2018), observes emitted city lights, emitted lights from the fires, reflected light from fog and low stratus clouds, along with the reflected light from nearby smoke.
Additionally, a comparison between NCC (bottom-left) and the GOES-16 infrared imagery (3.9um, bottom-right) at ~1050Z, 27 July 2018, is seen below. The NCC highlights the emitted lights from cities and towns, emitted lights from the Carr Fire, along with atmospheric features described earlier.
However, how do users clearly discriminate between emitted lights produced from fire to emitted lights exhibited by cities and towns? This is where GOES-16 3.9um imagery complements NCC. GOES-16 3.9um can be used to identify ‘fire hotspots’, that emanate high brightness temperature values, near the surface. In the infrared imagery, the ‘fire hotspots’ are clearly discerned, and are seen embedded within the black ellipse.
For more updates on the Carr Fire, click on the following link.