Operational
Significant Event Imagery (OSEI)
The following significant events were identified by Satellite Analysis Branch
meteorologists and reviewed by the OSEI support team:
NESDIS/OSEI NOAA-14 POES AVHRR satellite image, 15 February 2001.
Heat signatures (red) and long smoke trails (light blue lines denoted by the yellow arrow)
are visible
from fires produced by offshore drilling operations in the Bay of Campeche. Several small
heat signatures are also visible from fires burning in Mexico.
(Source: NESDIS/OSEI)
This satellite image reveals the ability of the NOAA AVHRR sensor to detect small fire (flame) surfaces such as the flames from gas disposal fires on offshore drilling platforms.NOAA AVHRR images in Local Area Coverage (LAC) resolution (pxel size: 1 x 1 km) detect fires at sub-pixel size. The same resolution and active fire detection potential also refers to wildland fires. Thus, the users of the GFMC should be aware that numbers of "saturated" fire pixels are not identical with area burned expressed by multiplication of pixel sizes.
NESDIS/OSEI NOAA-14 POES AVHRR satellite image, 15 February 2001.
Heat signatures (red) and smoke (light blue) are visible from fires burning in
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua
(Source: NESDIS/OSEI)
For more information on forest and other wildland fires in México and
Central America: See IFFN reports on México.