Introduction

In a twist on common practice, data from the NASA Earth Observing System’s Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument have been used to supplement NOAA’s California Fire Dynamics Experiment (CalFiDE) wildfire aerial campaign dataset. 

MISR Contributes to CalFiDE

Typically, data from wildfire-related aircraft field campaigns offer opportunities to validate remote-sensing retrievals of aerosol properties and other quantities derived from satellite-borne-instrument, and satellite instruments provide regional context-imagery for more sparsely sampled aircraft and surface-based measurements. However, in the case of MISR, its aerosol amount, particle type, aerosol plume height and the associated wind vector products have matured sufficiently that these quantities can also contribute substantially to a campaign dataset within a regional context. This is especially useful when such measurements are not acquired at all from the suborbital platforms, such as during CalFiDE. 

Major Findings

CalFiDE aircraft operations were coordinated with MISR overpasses on two occasions: During the Rum Creek fire on August 30, 2022, and the Mosquito fire on September 8, 2022. MISR-retrieved aerosol properties show distinctly different patterns of black and brown smoke particle distributions and inferred plume evolution in the two cases. This paper presents the satellite-retrieved results that complement the field observations, demonstrating what such measurements can offer, and contributing material for detailed fire dynamics and chemistry studies when combined with the CalFiDE suborbital observations and models in continuing studies.

Data Access

https://asdc.larc.nasa.gov/documents/misr/special_projects/algorithm_da…

References

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