PAYNE INSTITUTE COMMENTARY SERIES: COMMENTARY

By Tilottama Ghosh

July 29, 2026

VIIRS Nightfire (VNF) is a satellite-based algorithm that detects and characterizes high-temperature thermal anomalies from active combustion sources, including wildfires. By providing the location, approximate area, temperature, and intensity of active fires, VNF supports wildfire monitoring, particularly in remote regions where ground observations are limited. Recent VNF satellite detections from July 27, 2026, reveal widespread thermal anomalies associated with active wildfires across the Pacific Northwest, where severe drought, heat, and lightning have ignited over 1.5 million acres.  Many detections correspond to temperatures between 400 and 1000 K (purple markers), with fewer hotspots exhibiting temperatures between 1000 and 1400 K (blue and green markers), indicating that most fires were of moderate thermal intensity.

In British Columbia, fire activity has been driven by the Brunswick Complex, Anderson Creek, and Fiftynine Creek fires, which have prompted emergency evacuation orders in communities such as Boston Bar (Business Examiner). Along the eastern slopes of Washington’s Cascade Mountains, the Kaiser Canyon Fire has burned approximately 121,000 acres (KHQ). Major fires across Oregon and Idaho—including the Big Grass Fire, which has burned hundreds of thousands of acres along the Oregon–Idaho border, and Central Oregon’s Bench Fire—have resulted in evacuations, road closures, and continued firefighting efforts (Idaho News; Central Oregon Daily).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tilottama Ghosh
Research Associate, Earth Observation Group

Tilottama (Tilo) completed her PhD in geography from the University of Denver. Her training and educational background in geography, demography, economics, remote sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) helped to shape-up her interests, career and passion. Her research interests include nighttime lights, remote sensing, sustainable science, human geography, and spatio-temporal research using remote sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). She has about fourteen years of experience working with low light imaging data from the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) data, from 2013 onwards. She is responsible for creating the nightly, monthly, and annual, VIIRS nighttime lights products, and the other two flagship products, VIIRS Boat Detection (VBD), and VIIRS Nightfire(VNF), as well as the processing of the DMSP monthly and annual cloud-free composites. Along with her team members she is responsible for conceptualizing, and testing of the processing algorithms, creating metadata documenting generated data products, fulfilling data requests related to the nighttime lights products and the DMSP archive, providing training in the use and implementation of nighttime lights software to scientists and researchers, documenting DMSP and VIIRS algorithms and accomplishments through manuals, conference proceedings, and journal submissions. She conducts socio-economic research using nighttime Earth Observation Group (EOG) products and official socio-economic data at local and global scales. She publishes such work in peer -reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and book chapters.

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.