JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Image

NASA's ECOSTRESS Sees Fire-Induced Tornado From Space

Aug. 27, 2020
This ECOSTRESS has imaged a temperature profile of an area surrounding a fire-induced tornado in Loyalton, California.

NASA's ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) has imaged a temperature profile of an area surrounding a fire-induced tornado in Loyalton, California. A 20,000-acre wildfire early on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, had been the source of the tornado.

Fire tornados are rare occurrences and happen due to the most unfavorable weather conditions: harsh winds and a surge in heat from a fire. They have the potential to be highly dangerous, leading to many areas to issue a weather alert to their residents to stay cautious and find places of shelter.

In this map, there is a concentrated area of high temperature, which is likely where the fire-induced tornado had taken place. Also present in the image are very cold clouds, possibly representing the pyrocumulonimbus cloud that usually forms above a fire tornado. The National Weather Service (NWS) also suggested outflow winds in excess of 60 mph, which points to the event to be an EF1 or EF2 tornado.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages the ECOSTRESS mission for the Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. ECOSTRESS is an Earth Venture Instrument mission; the program is managed by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Future studies could use ECOSTRESS data products in a similar fashion as land surface temperature was used to assess the tornado pictured above.

More information about ECOSTRESS is available here: https://ecostress.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Download JPG
Download TIFF
Mission
Target
  • Earth
Spacecraft
  • International Space Station (ISS)
Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Keep Exploring

ECOSTRESS Detects Heat Islands in Indian Heat Wave

La Palma Volcano

Glass Fire, September 27, 2020

Hurricane Ida, August 27, 2021

ECOSTRESS Views 2021 Northern California Dixie Fire

ECOSTRESS Views 2021 Southern Oregon Bootleg Fire

July 2021 Heat Wave Ground Temperature

ECOSTRESS Drought Stress Comparison

NASA's ECOSTRESS Images California Wildfires From Space

NASA's ECOSTRESS Takes Surface Temperature Around California Fires

Related Topic

News .

NASA’s ECOSTRESS Detects ‘Heat Islands’ in Extreme Indian Heat Wave

News .

International Satellite to Track Impacts of Small Ocean Currents

News .

From Weather Forecasting to Climate Change, NASA’s AIRS Builds a Legacy

News .

NASA’s EMIT Will Map Tiny Dust Particles to Study Big Climate Impacts

News .

Clusters of Weather Extremes Will Increase Risks to Corn Crops, Society

News .

California Field Campaign Helping Scientists Protect Diverse Ecosystems

News .

NASA Finds New Way to Monitor Underground Water Loss

Mission .

NISAR

Mission .

Surface Water and Ocean Topography

News .

International Sea Level Satellite Takes Over From Predecessor

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors
Careers
Internships
The JPL Story
JPL Achievements
Documentary Series
Annual Reports
Missions
Current
Past
Future
All
News
All
Earth
Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
Subscribe to JPL News
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Apps
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Robotics at JPL
Events
Lecture Series
Team Competitions
Speakers Bureau
Calendar
Visit
Public Tours
Virtual Tour
Topics
JPL Life
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Exoplanets
Stars and Galaxies
Robotics
More
Asteroid Watch
NASA's Eyes Visualizations
Universe - Internal Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Managers: Veronica McGregor, Randal Jackson
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Naomi Hartono