NASA's INSPYRE mission sampled stratospheric smoke plumes from pyrocumulonimbus clouds generated by Utah's Widemouth 2 wildfire using high-altitude aircraft and satellite sensors.

Key Details

• The Widemouth 2 fire produced multiple pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud bursts with cloud-top temperatures below -40°C.
• Observations were coordinated using NASA's Aqua satellite (MODIS), NOAA's GOES-West, and research aircraft sampling smoke at 12 km altitude.
• INSPYRE investigates how wildfire smoke reaches the stratosphere and influences ozone chemistry and Earth's radiative energy balance.
• Collaborative research involving NASA, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, NSF, and NCAR.

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