PyroCb

PyroCb in Washington State

Anna Sienko | August 12, 2015

On 12 August a fire in the state of Washington was investigated for possibly producing a pyroCb. This fire located around 46 N 121.5 W, and showed signs of deep convection and possibly a pyroCb. GOES-15 detected the smoke plume and pyroCb cloud, as well as the fire hot spot. Starting at 18:00 UTC on 12 August, the animation below shows visible (.63 μm) on the left and shortwave IR (3.9 μm) on the right (click image to play animation). In the shortwave IR images the red pixels indicate very hot IR brightness temperatures exhibited by the fire source region.

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

In addition, using GOES-15 10.7 μm IR channel the cloud-top IR brightness temperature could be found. The animation below, starting at 18:00 UTC on 12 August, shows the brightness temperature -51.3ºC around 18:30 UTC (yellow color enhancement).

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

To further investigate the transport of smoke from this fire CALIPSO was used. This LIDAR shows the height of the clouds from the wildfire. The first image below is the 532nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot on 12 August from 10:07 UTC to 10:30 UTC, which is about 8 hours before the pyroCb formed but smoke can still be seen in the area. The smoke from this fire can be seen extending from 46 N to 48 N indicated by a red color. The second image is 1064 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot, the smoke on this plot is indicated by a red color. The third image is the Depolarization image the smoke is indicated by a blue color. The fourth image is the Attenuated Ratio plot between 1064 nm and 532 nm. The smoke is indicated by the magenta pixels. The fifth 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. The last image shows the subtype of the aerosols that have been detected by the LIDAR. This shows that the aerosols that the LIDAR has detected are smoke (indicated by the black pixels) extending from 46 N to 48 N.

CALIPSO 532 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter on 12 August (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO 1064 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter on 12 August (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO Depolarization Ration on 12 August (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO Attenuated Color Ratio between 1064 nm and 532 nm on 12 August (click to enlarge image)

CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask on 12 August (click to enlarge image)

CALIPSO Aerosol Subtype plot on 12 August (click to enlarge image)

PyroCbs near Lake Baikal in Russia

Anna Sienko | August 8, 2015

On 08 August there were two pyroCbs near Lake Baikal in Russia. The first pyroCb formed at 53.5 N 105.6 E around 6:45 UTC. Himawari-8 detected the smoke plume and clouds around the fires, as well as the fire hot spots. Starting at 04:00 UTC on August 08, the animation below shows visible (.64 μm) on the left and shortwave IR (3.9 μm) on the right (click image to play animation). In the shortwave IR images the darker black to red pixels indicate very hot IR brightness temperatures exhibited by the fire source region.

Himawari-8 0.64 μm visible (left) and 3.9 μm shortwave IR (right) images (click to play animation)

The next two pyroCbs are at 52.6 N 108.5 E at 6:10 UTC, and 52.8 N 109.1 E at 7:30 UTC. Starting at 04:00 UTC on 08 August, the animation below shows visible (.64 μm) on the left and shortwave IR (3.9 μm) on the right (click image to play animation). In the shortwave IR images the darker black to red pixels indicate very hot IR brightness temperatures exhibited by the fire source region.

Himawari-8 0.64 μm visible (left) and 3.9 μm shortwave IR (right) images (click to play animation)

In addition, using Himawari-8 10.4 μm IR channel imagery the minimum cloud-top IR brightness temperatures could be found. The animation below, starting at 04:00 UTC on 08 August, shows that the first pyroCb reached around -51.3 ºC (yellow color enhancement) at 09:11 UTC. The second pyroCb reaches about the same temperature of -49.1 ºC (lime green color enhancement) at 09:11 UTC. The third pyroCB reaches -46.4 ºC (lime green color enhancement) at 09:11UTC

Himawari-8 10.4 μm IR images (click to play animation)

In addition, there were another two pyroCbs near 53.6 N 107.3 E at 8:30 UTC and at 53.1 N 109.5 E at 9:00 UTC. Himawari-8 10.4 μm IR channel imagery the minimum cloud-top IR brightness temperatures could be found. The animation below, starting at 09:00 UTC on 08 August, shows that the first pyroCb reached around -54 ºC (orange color enhancement) at 15:20 UTC and the second pyroCb reaching -42.3ºC (lime green color enhancement) .

imawari-8 10.4 μm IR images (click to play animation)

OMPS AI index images (courtesy of Colin Seftor) shows the transport of smoke. The first is the image on 08 August shows a high AI index of 9.8 at 53.55 N 106.02 E. This value is around the fire hotspot. The second image has a high AI index of 18.4 at 51.89 N 110.53 E. This is just southeast of the fire hotspot and is consistent with the motion of the smoke plume in the above animations.

OMPS Aerosol Index image on 08 August (click to enlarge)

OMPS Aerosol Index image on 09 August (click to enlarge)

To further investigate the transport of smoke from this fire CALIPSO was used. This LIDAR shows the height of the clouds from the wildfire. The first image below is the 532nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot on 08 August from 05:15 UTC to 05:37 UTC. The smoke from this fire can be seen extending from 51 N to 53 N indicated by a dark grey and red color. The second image is 1064 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot, the smoke on this plot is indicated by a red color. The third image is the Depolarization image the smoke is indicated by a blue/green color. The fourth image is the Attenuated Ratio plot between 1064 nm and 532 nm. The smoke is indicated by the magenta pixels. The fifth 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. The last image shows the subtype of the aerosols that have been detected by the LIDAR. This shows that the aerosols that the LIDAR has detected are smoke (indicated by the black pixels) extending from 51 N to 53 N.

CALIPSO 532 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter on 08 August (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO 1064 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter on 08 August (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO Depolarization Ration on 08 August (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO Attenuated Color Ratio between 1064 nm and 532 nm on 08 August (click to enlarge image)

CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask on 08 August (click to enlarge image)

CALIPSO Aerosol Subtype plot on 08 August (click to enlarge image)

Rocky Fire in California

Anna Sienko | July 31, 2015

On 31 July there was a pyroCb that formed in California from the Rocky Fire (40.7 N 123.5 W). According to the Current Fire Information, this fire started on 29 July at 3:29 PM. As of 4 August the fire has burned 65,000 acres. GOES-15 detected the smoke plume and pyroCb cloud, as well as the fire hot spot. Starting at 19:00 UTC on 31 July, the animation below shows visible (.63 μm) on the left and shortwave IR (3.9 μm) on the right (click image to play animation). In the shortwave IR images the red pixels indicate very hot IR brightness temperatures exhibited by the fire source region.

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

In addition, using GOES-15 10.7 μm IR channel the cloud-top IR brightness temperature could be found. The animation below, starting at 19:00 UTC on 31 July, shows the brightness temperatures of this pyroCb. The pyroCb reached -54ºC (orange color enhancement) around 01:30 UTC on 1 August.

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

OMPS AI index image (courtesy of Colin Seftor) shows the transport of smoke. The image on 02 August shows a high AI values around the area of the pyroCb. The max AI value is 7.7 at 41.25 N 124.24 W, which is just northwest of hte pyroCb. This is consistent with the animations above with the smoke from the fire moving northwest.

OMPS Aerosol Index image on 02 August (click to enlarge)

The first image below shows the plume of smoke from the Rocky Fire (courtesy of Ed Joyce and Wildfire Today). The next image is the area of the fire. The red line is the area as of 9 UTC on 2 August and the white line is the perimeter of the fire about 24 hours earlier (image courtesy of Wildfire Today).

Smoke plumes from wildfire on 2 August (click to enlarge)

Perimeter of fire (click to enlarge)

Stouts Fire in Oregon

Scott Bachmeier | July 30, 2015

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

GOES-15 (GOES-West) 0.63 µm visible channel and 3.9 µm shortwave IR channel images (above; click to play animation; also available as an MP4 movie file) showed that the Stouts Fire (InciWeb | Wildfire Today) began to rapidly intensify in southwestern Oregon around 2030 UTC (1:30 pm local time) on 30 July 2015.

GOES-15 10.7 µm IR images (below; click image to play animation; also available as an MP4 movie file) indicated that the cloud-top IR brightness temperature (BT) became colder than -40º C (bright green color enhancement) after about 0100 UTC on 31 July, becoming the first verified pyroCb in the Lower 48 States for the 2015 wildfire season. The IR BT continued to cool to around -50º C (yellow color enhancement) after 0200 UTC.

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

A NOAA-18 AVHRR image at 0139 UTC (below; courtesy of Rene Servranckx) indicated that the minimum IR BT was -56.1º C, which corresponded to an altitude of approximately 12.2 km based on the 31 July / 00 UTC Medford, Oregon rawinsonde. This altitude was just below the tropopause (which was defined on the sounding data to be at 12.6 km); winds at that level were southwesterly around 40 knots.

NOAA-18 AVHRR 0.63 µm visible (upper left), 3.7 µm shortwave IR (upper right), 10.8 µm IR (lower left), and false-color RGB image (lower right) [click to enlarge]

During the 0230-0300 UTC time period, there were 4 negative-polarity cloud-to-ground lightning strikes recorded beneath the Stouts Fire pyroCb cloud (below; courtesy of Nick Nauslar).

Cloud-to-ground lightning strikes (0230-0300 UTC)

The fire continued to burn well into the nighttime hours; on a comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS images at 1028 UTC or 3:28 am local time (below), an intense fire hot spot was evident on the 3.74 µm shortwave IR image (yellow to red to black color enhancement) which also showed up as a brightly glowing feature on the 0.8 µm Day/Night Band image. Because of ample illumination from a Full Moon, the Day/Night Band provided a “visible image at night” which enabled the leading edge of the pyroCb smoke to be seen spreading over northeastern Oregon, far southeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. The coldest VIIRS IR BT at that time was -50º C over northeastern Oregon.

Suomi NPP VIIRS 3.74 µµ shortwave IR, 0.8 µm Day/Night Band, and 11.45 µm IR images [click to enlarge]

On the following day (31 July), successive Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color images (below) showed that the leading edge of the Stouts Fire smoke was over eastern Montana at 1832 UTC, and over southwestern North Dakota at 2013 UTC.

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color image at 1832 UTC on 31 July [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color image at 2013 UTC on 31 July [click to enlarge]

This smoke transport was consistent with forward trajectories calculated using the HYSPLIT model (below).

HYSPLIT forward trajectories [click to enlarge]

On 31 July, Suomi NPP OMPS Aerosol Index values (below; courtesy of Colin Seftor) were as high as 5.4 over far southwestern North Dakota.

Suomi NPP OMPS Aerosol Index on 31 July [click to enlarge]

PyroCb in Russia

Anna Sienko | July 29, 2015

On 29 July there was a possibility of a pyroCb forming just east of Lake Baikal in Russia. From Himwari-8 images it was confirmed that a pyroCb formed around 53 N 109 E. Himawari-8 detected the smoke plume and clouds around the fires, as well as the fire hot spots. Starting at 07:00 UTC on 29 July, the animation below shows visible (.64 μm) on the left and shortwave IR (3.9 μm) on the right (click image to play animation). In the shortwave IR images the darker black to red pixels indicate very hot IR brightness temperatures exhibited by the fire source region.

Himawari-8 0.64 μm visible (left) and 3.9 μm shortwave IR (right) images (click to play animation)

In addition, using Himawari-8 10.4 μm IR channel imagery the minimum cloud-top IR brightness temperatures could be found. The animation below, starting at 07:00 UTC on 29 July, shows that the possbile pyroCb reached around -40ºC (lime green color enhancement) at 10:20 UTC.

Himawari-8 10.4 μm IR images (click to play animation)

OMPS AI index image (courtesy of Colin Seftor) shows the transport of smoke. The image on 30 July shows a high AI values around the area of the pyroCb. However, this image is detecting the smoke from the multiple fires in the area and not the fire that produced the pyroCb specifically.

OMPS Aerosol Index image on 30 July (click to enlarge)

Furthermore, the image of the Biomass Burning Aerosol Optical Depth at 550 nm (image courtesy of Mark Parrington) shows how much smoke concentration that is an area. There is a high optical depth in Russia from these multiple wild fires. The bulk of this smoke is moving East and possibly reaching the west coast of North America in a few days.

Biomass Burning Aerosols Optical Depth at 550 nm (click to enlarge)

To further investigate the transport of smoke from this fire CALIPSO was used. This LIDAR shows the height of the clouds from the wildfire. The first image below is the 532nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot on 29 July from 04:48 UTC to 05:01 UTC. The smoke from this fire can be seen extending from 52 N to 54 N indicated by a red color. This plot shows that the smoke is moving southeast. The second image is 1064 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot, the smoke on this plot is indicated by a red color. The third image is the Depolarization image the smoke is indicated by a light blue color. The fourth image is the Attenuated Ratio plot between 1064 nm and 532 nm. The smoke is indicated by the magenta pixels. The fifth 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. The last image shows the subtype of the aerosols that have been detected by the LIDAR. This shows that the aerosols that the LIDAR has detected are smoke (indicated by the black pixels) around 53 N.

CALIPSO 532 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter on 29 July (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO 1064 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter on 29 July (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO Depolarization Ration on 29 July (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO Attenuated Color Ratio between 1064 nm and 532 nm on 29 July (click to enlarge image)

CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask on 29 July (click to enlarge image)

CALIPSO Aerosol Subtype plot on 29 July (click to enlarge image)

Wildfire Smoke over Asia

Anna Sienko | July 22, 2015

Note: even though this large-scale smoke event was not pyroCb-related, we feel that it is important enough to document in terms of the long-range transport of biomass burning smoke and the potential implications on weather and climate far from the fire source regions.

Himawari-8 Visible imagery (click to animate)

Himawari-8 shows the smoke over the northeastern part of Asia. The animation above (from 22:00 UTC on 18 July to 06:00 UTC on 19 July) shows smoke moving off the eastern side of Asia, the smoke is indicated as a hazy white color. Furthermore, closely looking at the animation smoke plumes can be seen from the multiple wildfires. Also, the smoke does not seem to be moving very quickly and its shape possible indicating that it is following the path of a jet stream.

OMPS AI Index image on 19 July (courtesy of Colin Seftor) shows the transport of the smoke from these wildfires. The max AI was 5.9 at 55.5 N 126.9 E, the max value is northeast of the area where most of the wildfires are concentrated.

OMPS AI Index on 19 July (click to enlarge)

Furthermore, Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color imagery shows the progression of the smoke. The animation starts on 10 July where there appears to be little smoke. By 19 July most of the area is covered in hazy smoke. Also, looking closely at the animation smoke plumes can be seen and areas where the wildfires are orginating from.

Suomi NPP VIIRS (click to animate)

Furthermore, looking at the CO mixing ratio this provides information on how much carbon monoxide is in the atmophere. The higher the CO amount, the higher the mixing ratio, and which means areas of dense smoke. The image below shows the CO mixing ratio on 19 July (courtesy of Leonid Yurganov). The are under investigation has a CO mixing ratio of 220 ppbv (indicated by dark red) , which is rather high thus there must be a lot of smoke in the area.

CO Mixing Ratio on 19 July (click to enlarge)

To further investigate the transport of smoke from this fire CALIPSO was used. This LIDAR shows the height of the clouds from the wildfire. The first image below is the 532nm Total Attenuated Backscatter plot on 19 July from 04:12 UTC to 04:25 UTC. The smoke from this fire can be seen extending from 53 N to 56 N indicated by a light grey color, and increasing with height as the latitude increases. This plot shows that the smoke is moving northeast. The next image is the Depolarization image the smoke is indicated by a red/pink color. The third image is 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 the teal and purple pixels. The fifth 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. The last image shows the subtype of the aerosols that have been detected by the LIDAR. This shows that the aerosols that the LIDAR has detected are smoke (indicated by the black pixels) around 52 N and northeastward around 56 N.

CALIPSO 532 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter on 19 July (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO Depolarization Ration on 19 July (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO 1064 nm Total Attenuated Backscatter on 19 July (click to enlarge)

CALIPSO Attenuated Color Ratio between 1064 nm and 532 nm on 19 July (click to enlarge image)

CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask on 19 July (click to enlarge image)

CALIPSO Aerosol Subtype plot on 19 July (click to enlarge image)