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VIIRS McIDAS-V Colby, CA FireJanuary 17-20, 2014

William Straka III

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Background

• The Colby Fire started at approximately 0555 PST (~1355Z) on Thursday, January 16 2014, the Glendora Mountain Road by the Colby truck trail by an illegal campfire– According to a statement to police, one of the three men arrested stated that

they were not a designated camping spot and that it was started by “by tossing paper into a campfire”

• It was initially fueled by strong Santa Ana winds.

• Subsequent nighttime VIIRS passes revealed the emitted light (in the Day Night Band) and thermal characteristics (M10, M13) of the fire

• By January 19th and 20th, the fire had been contained and mop up operations were in progress.

VIIRS DNB1033Z, January 17, 2014

Colby

VIIRS M10 (1.6mm)1033Z, January 17, 2014

Colby

Etiwanda Power Plant or Tamco Steel in Rancho Cucamonga

VIIRS M13 (3.9mm)1033Z, January 17, 2014

Etiwanda Power Plant or Tamco Steel in Rancho Cucamonga

Colby

Refineries

VIIRS M15 (11mm)1033Z, January 17, 2014

Note hot spot in 11mm channel BT

Colby

VIIRS DNB1014Z, January 18, 2014

Colby Smoke

VIIRS M10 (1.6mm)1014Z, January 18, 2014

Colby

VIIRS M13 (3.9mm)1014Z, January 18, 2014

Etiwanda Power Plant or Tamco Steel in Rancho Cucamonga

Colby

Refineries

VIIRS M15 (11mm)1014Z, January 18, 2014

Colby

Note hot spot in 11mm channel BT

VIIRS DNB0955Z, January 19, 2014

Colby

VIIRS M10 (1.6mm)0955Z, January 19, 2014

ColbyNote hot spot gone

VIIRS M13 (3.9mm)0955Z, January 19, 2014

Etiwanda Power Plant or Tamco Steel in Rancho Cucamonga

ColbyNote hot spot gone

Refineries

VIIRS M15 (11mm)0955Z, January 19, 2014

Colby

VIIRS DNB0936Z, January 20, 2014

Colby

VIIRS M10 (1.6mm)0936Z, January 20, 2014

Etiwanda Power Plant or Tamco Steel in Rancho Cucamonga

Colby

VIIRS M13 (3.9mm)0936Z, January 20, 2014

Etiwanda Power Plant or Tamco Steel in Rancho Cucamonga

Colby

Refineries

VIIRS M15 (11mm)0936Z, January 20, 2014

Colby

ZOOMED IN FEATURESColby Fire

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VIIRS DNB1033Z, January 17, 2014

Possible smoke

VIIRS M15 (11mm)1033Z, January 17, 2014

Note lack of agreement with IR window

VIIRS DNB1033Z, January 17, 2014

Colby

VIIRS DNB1014Z, January 18, 2014

Smoke

Colby

VIIRS DNB0955Z, January 19, 2014

Note bright spot basically gone

Colby

VIIRS DNB0936Z, January 20, 2014

ColbyNote bright spot basically gone

Summary

• Nighttime VIIRS passes over the Colby fire revealed the emitted light (in the Day Night Band) and thermal characteristics (M10, M13) of the fire– These features dissipated or disappear by January 19th, when most of the fire had

been contained

• At its most intense, the Colby fire could be seen in the 11mm channel.

• Other thermal features, such as the Etiwanda Power Plant/Tamco Steel plant in Rancho Cucamonga and the various refineries in the Long Beach area were also observed.– These features had relatively cooler thermal characteristics than the Colby fire

• With the moon being up and in the gibbous phase, what appears to be smoke was observed in on January 17th off the coast of Santa Rosa Island as well as over the Colby Fire on January 18th.