Alatna Wildfire Complex in Alaska (Goddard Space Flight Center)

(Source: Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA-NOAA's Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite (S-NPP) carries an instrument so sensitive to low light levels that it can detect wildfires in the middle of the night as well as during the daytime. On May 5, 2016 at 0956 UTC (5:56 a.m. EDT), the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi-NPP acquired a night-time image of the Fort McMurray wildfire by using its 'day-night band' to sense the fire in the visible portion of the spectrum. In the image, the brightest parts of the fire appear white while smoke appears light gray. This night-time infrared view of the Fort McMurray Wildfire in Alberta Canada was captured by the...