Date Captured:
12/16/19

Summary:

Exaggerated (20x) Plume Height measured in meters by the MISR instrument on 12/16/19 for the Australian Fires.

We can tell the height of a cloud or smoke plume above Earth’s surface by viewing it from space at different angles. A plume located high above the surface will appear to move considerably relative to the underlying surface when view at different angles, whereas a plume closer to the surface will appear to shift less. The MISR instrument aboard the NASA Terra satellite contains nine cameras that capture the Earth at a wide range of angles, allowing us to observe the apparent shift (called parallax) of smoke plumes from the wildfires in Australia, and to use this to determine the height. Plume height gives an indication of fire intensity, and is also important as an input to air quality models that predict where the smoke will go, and who it might affect downwind. In this visualization, MISR-retrieved plume heights are represented as circles with progressively lighter colors for higher elevation. Hot spots on the surface, derived from infrared brightness anomalies (at about 4 microns) in the MODIS data, are shown as red 3D circles.

Satellite/Sensor:

MISR/Terra

Resolution:

~1km

Credits:

Active Aerosol Plume (AAP) Project, V. Flower, R. Kahn, K. Junghenn-Noyes, visualized by Jeremy Kirkendall, NASA Disasters Program.

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