The most interesting Satellite Observations of Forest Fires
Fires in California
Fire visible on Aug 18, 1996
This channel 3 image of northern California was the one that inspired
the creation of this site. This view is for 2:33 am Pacific Daylight Time
and was near the edge of the pass, as shown on the
pass map, so the resolution is not the best.
The large bright spot near latitude 39.2 is the Fork fire. Another group
of fires are visible at about latitude 38, these are near Yosemite National
Park.
Daytime view of smoke plumes
Smoke from these fires was visible on daytime views of the area, one
of the most interesting views was obtained on Aug 21 at 01:25 UT.
The sun was low in the west as seen on the
pass map.
The wind conditions were right to create some fairly complex smoke patterns:
small view (336 Kb),
large view (715 Kb).
The actual fire locations are better seen on the channel 3 views:
small view (436 Kb),
large view (855 Kb). An
enhanced color composite (812 Kb) shows the wide area covered by at least
some smoke. California smoke drifts over much of Nevada.
Fire near Tionesta, 1996 Aug 27
A nighttime
channel 3 view of northern California shows a fairly large fire
in progress near the town of Tionesta. The
hotspot map shows the positions
of Tionesta and Canby near this fire and also Yosemite Village near
the fire in the Sierras. A
color shaded relief map of northern California might be a useful
reference.
Malibu fire and other fires in S. California, 1996 Oct 22
A nighttime
channel 3 view of southern California shows the fire at
Malibu, it's on the coast at about latitude 34 deg. This and the other
fires to the southeast can be located on the
hotspot finder map, and seen in more detail on the
hotspot map. The channel 3 view and hotspot maps were written up
in the Los Angeles Times Newspaper web site on Oct 29, 1996. These
fires were fanned by the strong Santa Ana winds which occur this time of year.
List of images
This section gives a convenient list of the images discussed
above, plus a few extras.
1996 Aug18 09:33 UT
NOAA-14 nighttime
Fire
1996 Aug 21 01:25 UT
NOAA-12 evening view
Fire and Smoke
1996 Aug 27 09:36 UT
NOAA-14 night
Tionesta Fire
1996 Oct 22 09:29 UT
NOAA-14 night
Malibu Fire
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