NASA pilots fly into fire-generated thunderstorms to study “fire clouds”
NASA scientists are flying straight into some of the most dangerous weather on Earth — thunderstorms created by wildfires.
The mission is part of NASA’s new INSPYRE project, aimed at understanding pyrocumulonimbus clouds, or “pyroCbs.” These fire-generated storm clouds have appeared this summer in US wildfires and, for the first time ever, in France.
PyroCbs act like volcanoes. They shoot smoke and particles up to 50,000 feet into the atmosphere. They disrupt firefighting, produce their own lightning that can spark new blazes, and push smoke high into the stratosphere where it can linger for more than a year, affecting weather, climate, and the ozone layer.
For the next six weeks, NASA pilots will chase active wildfires from airbases in Colorado and Montana. Researchers onboard will collect data on how and where pyroCbs form, and measure their impact on the climate.
Findings from the campaign are expected within a year. Scientists say better predictions of pyroCbs could help firefighters stay safer and improve climate models as wildfires grow more intense worldwide.
