A NASA research aircraft conducted flights over the wildfires in British Columbia over the weekend to enhance understanding of the weather phenomena produced by large fires. Online flight tracking data revealed that the ER-2 plane flew multiple times over B.C.’s southern Interior on Saturday, originating from Great Falls, Mont., in a flight lasting over six hours. Specifically, the aircraft spent approximately four hours at an altitude of 60,000 feet over the Clinton area, where the extensive Pear Lake wildfire is active. It then veered east over Lake Revelstoke before re-entering U.S. airspace.
NASA’s research focus aboard the ER-2 aircraft is on pyrocumulonimbus clouds, considered among the most enigmatic severe weather occurrences on Earth. The B.C. Wildfire Service notes that the Pear Lake wildfire, spanning nearly 1,500 square kilometers and the largest in the province, has led to the formation of such clouds. These clouds, generated by intense smoke and heat, can result in rainfall, lightning, and fire whirlwinds.
The ER-2 aircraft, a modified Cold War reconnaissance plane known as the U-2, has achieved altitude records exceeding twice the typical cruising altitude of commercial flights. Equipped with advanced infrared wildfire tracking technology, the aircraft collects crucial data on pyrocumulonimbus clouds. NASA emphasizes that these storms, laden with smoke and lightning, pose risks to aircraft above and can ignite additional fires below. By monitoring and mapping these hazardous storms in real-time, scientists aim to enhance future forecasting capabilities.
[Image: The flight path of NASA’s ER-2 Earth Resources aircraft over British Columbia on Saturday, Aug. 8, as monitored by Flightradar24. (The Canadian Press/Flightradar24)]
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