PyroCb in British Columbia

On 25 May 2015 there were reported two pyroCbs at 59.3 N 132.6 W. The first was around 23:00 UTC on 25 May. The second was around 1:00 UTC on 26 May 2015. According to Whitehorse and Fort Nelson soundings the later pyroCb reached 11 to 12 km. GOES 15 detects the pyroCbs at visible (.63 μm) and IR (3.9 μm) channels shown below starting at 22:30 UTC 25 May (click in animation to play). In the IR image the red pixels indicate hot shortwave IR bright temperatures exhibited by the fire.

GOES-15 0.63 μm visible (left) and 3.9 μm shortwave IR (right) images (click to play animation)

The GOES-15 10.7 μm IR channel image below shows the pyroCb cloud-top brightness temperatures. The first pyroCb is seen with the coldest brightness temperature at -54.7°C at 00:30 UTC indicated by the yellow color. The second pyroCb at a temperature of -59.9°C around 01:00 UTC indicated by the orange color.

GOES-15 10.7 μm IR images (click to play animation)

CALIPSO LIDAR was used to further investigate the transport of smoke from this fire. This LIDAR shows the height of clouds produced from the fire. The first image is the 532 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot on 26 May form 21:18 UTC to 21:32 UTC. The smoke can be seen around 59 N indicated by light grey pixels. This confirms that the smoke is moving southeast. The next image is the Depolarization plot, on this plot the smoke is indicated by a red/pink color. The third image is the 1064 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot, the smoke on this plot is indicated by a light grey color. The fourth image is the Attenuated Ratio plot between 1064 nm and 532 nm. The smoke is indicated by teal and purple pixels. The last image is the Vertical Feature Mask. This plot shows the different features that are in the atmosphere, the smoke is attributed as a cloud on this plot and is indicated by a light blue color.