Two PyroCbs in Alaska

On 15 July two pyroCbs formed in the interior of Alaska. GOES-15 detected the smoke plumes and pyroCb clouds, as well as the fire hot spots. The first pyroCb (65.8º N, 155.5º W) formed from the Dulbi Flats fire around 1:30 UTC . The second pyroCb (66.6º N, 153.8ºW ) formed from the Hog Fire, also around 1:30 UTC.  Starting at 21:00 UTC on 14 July, the animation below (also available as an MP4) )shows GOES-15 (GOES-West) 0.63 µm visible (top), 3.9 µm shortwave IR (middle) and 10.7 µm IR window images (bottom). In the shortwave IR images, the red pixels indicate very hot IR brightness temperatures exhibited by the fire source regions.

GOES-15 0.63 µm visible (top), 3.9 µ shortwave IR (middle) and IR window (10.7 µm) images [click to play animation]

NOAA-18 AVHRR 0.64 µm visible (top left), 3,7 µm shortwave IR (top right), 10.8 µm IR window (bottom left) and false-color RGB composite image (bottom right). [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 μm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 μm) and Infrared Window (11.45 μm) images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP OMPS Aerosol Index [click to enlarge]

CALIPSO CALOIP attenuated backscatter and depolarization data; Alaska pyroCb smoke plume aloft indicated by arrow [click to enlarge]

===== 16 July Update =====

Suomi NPP OMPS Aerosol Index images from 16 July (below) showed that smoke from the Alaska pyroCbs continued to drift eastward across the Yukon and Northwest Territories regions of Canada.

Suomi NPP OMPS Aerosol Index images [click to enlarge]