PAYNE INSTITUTE COMMENTARY SERIES: COMMENTARY

VIIRS Sensors Show Breadth of Texas Wildfires

By Mikhail Zhizhin, Christopher Elvidge, Kristin Ziv, and Morgan Bazilian

February 29, 2024

The Earth Observation Group (EOG) at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, has calculated the temperatures and spatial extent of active burning in the Texas Panhandle with their Nightfire algorithm applied to data collected by NOAA’s Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer Suite (VIIRS).  The VIIRS data reveal the locations of both flaming and non-flaming combustion, a capability unique to the nightfire data product.

Feeding on strong winds, above-normal temperatures, and dry, dead grasses, the largest of the fires – the Smokehouse Creek fire near Canadian, TX –has spread to at least 500,000 acres and is the second-largest wildfire on record in Texas. The fires have forced evacuations, as houses and ranch lands burn. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties. The fires are uncontrolled as of Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.

The map below shows the east/west pattern of the wildfires, with the worst activity surrounding Canadian, TX, population 2,248, and to its south. The area is known for farming, ranching, and oil and gas production. There is some fire activity across Texas’s northeast border into Oklahoma. Wildfires are visible west from Canadian, toward Pampa’s north, and Borger’s east. A large cluster of fires is burning to the south of Fritch.

Pin colors on the map correspond to temperature ranges. Red-orange indicates the hottest temperatures, around 2500 Kelvin, while purple indicates the coolest, between 400K and 1000K. Green pins are the most prevalent on the map, indicating temperatures in the 1200K – 1400K range (between 927 and 1127 degrees Celsius).

Satellite imagery from EOG, Payne Institute for Public Policy
Feb. 28, 2024

VIIRS is the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite which is flown jointly by NASA and NOAA. The VIIRS design was set by meteorologists, but other valuable products are also produced from VIIR data. EOG developed VNF in 2012 for quantifying natural gas flaring and biomass burning. VNF is the only global fire detection product that calculates fire temperatures, source sizes and heat output using physical laws.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mikhail Zhizhin
Research Associate, Earth Observation Group

Zhizhin Mikhail Nikolaevich, M.Sci in mathematics from the Moscow State University in 1984, Ph.D. in computational seismology and pattern recognition from the Russian Acad. Sci. in 1992. Research positions from 1987 to 2012 in geophysics, space research and nuclear physics at Russian Acad. Sci., later at NOAA and CU Boulder. Currently he is a researcher at the Earth Observation Group at Colorado School of Mines. His applied research fields evolved from high performance computing in seismology, geodynamics, terrestrial and space weather to deep learning in remote sensing. He is developing new machine learning algorithms to better understand the Nature with Big Data.

Christopher Elvidge
Senior Research Associate, Director of Earth Observation Group

Christopher D. Elvidge has decades of experience with satellite low light imaging data, starting in 1994. He pioneered nighttime satellite observation on visible lights, heat sources including gas flares and wildfires, as well as bright lit fishing vessels. He led the development of these nighttime remote sensed products with images from DMSP, JPSS, and Landsat satellites. These data are very popular and used globally in both public and private sectors. As of February 2018, he has more than 11,000 scholarly publication citations.

Kristin Ziv
Payne Institute Communications Associate

After receiving a Masters degree in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School, Kristin worked as a public relations professional in Chicago.  She has both agency and non-profit experience.  After raising a family, she campaigned for and was elected to public office, serving a term as a Village Trustee in Winnetka, IL, before moving to Colorado in 2019.

Morgan Bazilian
Director, Payne Institute and Professor of Public Policy

Morgan Bazilian is the Director of the Payne Institute and a Professor of public policy at the Colorado School of Mines. Previously, he wD.as lead energy specialist at the World Bank. He has over two decades of experience in the energy sector and is regarded as a leading expert in international affairs, policy and investment. He is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

ABOUT THE PAYNE INSTITUTE

The mission of the Payne Institute at Colorado School of Mines is to provide world-class scientific insights, helping to inform and shape public policy on earth resources, energy, and environment. The Institute was established with an endowment from Jim and Arlene Payne, and seeks to link the strong scientific and engineering research and expertise at Mines with issues related to public policy and national security.

The Payne Institute Commentary Series offers independent insights and research on a wide range of topics related to energy, natural resources, and environmental policy. The series accommodates three categories namely: Viewpoints, Essays, and Working Papers.

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DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or official policies of the Payne Institute or the Colorado School of Mines.