New Geostationary Imagery Added to FIRMS and Worldview

In near real-time, NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) provides data to help users identify the location, extent, and intensity of wildfire activity. The FIRMS team is continually identifying new layer options, and recently added the Geostationary Ring Natural Color RGB imagery layer. This product, provided by European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), is a mosaic of RGB Natural Color imagery derived from five geostationary satellite instruments to provide comprehensive coverage of the globe.

Each of the five instruments that contribute to this near real-time global mosaic imagery stays locked to its associated nadir coordinates as Earth rotates on its axis. The instruments continuously image the entire Earth disk within its field of view centered at 10- to 15-minute intervals, and the layer displays the latest imagery captured by each instrument at 3-hour intervals. This update frequency provides imagery throughout the day between polar-orbiting satellite observations and is ideal for viewing changes in wildfire activity.

• GOES-18 (GOES West) / Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) - 0º, 137.2º W
  • Labeled GOES West in FIRMS
• GOES-19 (GOES East) / ABI - 0º, 75.2º W
  • Labeled GOES East in FIRMS
• Himawari-9 / Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) - 0º, 140º E
  • Labeled Himawari-9 in FIRMS
• Meteosat Indian Ocean Data Coverage (IODC) / SEVIRI - 0º, 45.5º E
  • Labeled MSG IODC in FIRMS
• Meteosat 0 Degree / Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) - 0º, 0º
  • Labeled MSG 0 deg in FIRMS

The Geostationary Ring Natural Color RGB imagery is a false color composite image. The layer assigns red, green, and blue display channels to the short-wave infrared, near infrared, and red reflectance bands for each geostationary instrument. 

• ABI (GOES-18 and GOES-19): Near Infrared 1.6 µm, Visible 0.86 µm, and Visible 0.64 µm channels.
• AHI (Himawari-9): Near Infrared 1.6 µm, Visible 0.86 µm, and Visible 0.64 µm channels.
• SEVIRI (Meteosat): Near Infrared 1.6 µm, Visible 0.8 µm, and Visible 0.6 µm channels.
• ABI (GOES-18 and GOES-19): Near Infrared 1.6 µm, Visible 0.86 µm, and Visible 0.64 µm channels.
• AHI (Himawari-9): Near Infrared 1.6 µm, Visible 0.86 µm, and Visible 0.64 µm channels. 

The combination of these spectral bands yields a false color composite image where observable features on the land surface and atmosphere typically appear as follows: healthy vegetation (green), burn scars (reddish-brown), bare soils/deserts (brown), clouds (white), smoke (white, gray or light brown); snow and ice (cyan), deep water bodies (dark blue), and shallower water bodies (light blue).

Worldview has also added other Geostationary Ring imagery layers in addition to the Geostationary Ring Natural Color RGB imagery. Worldview is an easy-to-use visualization tool that allows users to interactively browse, compare, animate, and download more than 1,200 visualized satellite data products. Worldview provides access to the following imagery layers from EUMETSAT: Air Mass, Volcanic Ash, Dust, and Infrared 10.8 μm. These are also available at 3-hour intervals. Unlike the Natural Color RGB imagery, these layers are based on the infrared channels so they are usable during the day and at night. The Air Mass imagery can be used to monitor the distribution of different air masses and evolution of cyclones, the Volcanic Ash imagery is used to detect ash and sulfur dioxide (SO2) from volcanic eruptions, the Dust imagery can be used to monitor dust storms, discriminate between cloud types, and detect low level moisture, and the Infrared 10.8μm imagery can be used to continuously (day and night) view clouds, land and sea surfaces, and aid in cloud and other atmospheric feature identification/classification.

The images above show a 12-hour daytime sequence of the Geostationary Ring Natural Color RGB imagery for May 18, 2023 at 1500 UTC, 1800 UTC, and 2100 UTC; and for May 19, 2023 at 0000 UTC and  0300 UTC for the Donnie Creek Fire near Peach River in northeast British Columbia. The Geostationary Ring Natural Color RGB imagery is updated at 3-hour intervals during this 12-hour period and allows visualization of discernible changes of the fire and smoke patterns throughout the day.