WATCH: Why scientists flew into firestorm clouds this wildfire season
“Firestorm” clouds, or pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb), are responsible for a range of extreme weather, from lightning to firenadoes. But much about their inner workings is unknown, making their behavior difficult to predict.
As wildfires grow bigger and hotter in many parts of the world, researchers embarked on an airborne mission this summer to learn more about the severe storm clouds.
“In recent years, these smoke plumes from fire-generated storms can rival volcanic eruptions in terms of the amount of material put high into the atmosphere,” said David Peterson, a meteorologist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
The NASA-funded mission, called INSPYRE (Injected Smoke and Pyrocumulonimbus Experiment), aims to gather real-time data from active wildfires to help scientists better understand what makes these clouds tick and how they affect the atmosphere.
PBS News spoke with Peterson, INSPYRE’s principal investigator, about the team’s first flight season and its goals.
Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show.
Sign up for Here’s The Deal with Lisa Desjardins: https://to.pbs.org/41q6E8i
Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe
PBS News podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS News at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
Follow us:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews
X: http://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newshour/
