Use of handheld video recorders to evaluate MISR forest fire plume height data

There have been efforts to improve the characterization of smoke transport emanating from forest fire plumes in atmospheric models using satellite data. In particular, smoke plume height data from the Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) instrument aboard the TERRA satellite, can be used to evaluate the accuracy of smoke plume rise models. These data are important given the impacts of wildfires on human activity, and increasingly so given the increasing incidence and severity of forest fires in the western United States as a result of global climate change. To date, there has been no systematic effort to validate these satellite data. We present an exploratory effort to produce a database of forest fires smoke plume heights in collaboration with a group of Fire Behavior Analysts from the USDA-Forest Service, using small, handheld video recorders. This database will include information of smoke plume heights for a variety of different types of fires over a range of different geographical and meteorological conditions, and will allow validation of MISR plume height data. The video recorders have been designed to be highly portable and able to withstand the rigors of being in field. The project represents a new, low cost approach to satellite data validation, and a first effort at producing a database of ground based plume height data. This project will yield a valuable database of ground observations that can be used to evaluate both the accuracy of satellite data and the accuracy of plume rise models.