A NASA research aircraft conducted flights over the wildfires in British Columbia over the weekend to gain insights into the weather phenomena triggered by large fires. The ER-2 plane was observed flying multiple times over B.C.’s southern Interior on Saturday, embarking on a more than six-hour journey from Great Falls, Montana. Flight data from Flightradar24 revealed that the aircraft spent approximately four hours at an altitude of 60,000 feet above the Clinton area, where the extensive Pear Lake wildfire is currently active, before heading east over Lake Revelstoke and returning to U.S. airspace.
NASA’s research focus with the ER-2 aircraft is on pyrocumulonimbus clouds, described as a poorly understood severe weather phenomenon on Earth. The B.C. Wildfire Service reported that the Pear Lake wildfire, covering nearly 1,500 square kilometers and the largest in B.C., has generated such clouds due to intense smoke and heat, leading to the formation of rain, lightning, and fire tornadoes.
The ER-2, a modified Cold War spy plane also known as the U-2, has a history of setting altitude records, flying at levels twice as high as commercial flights. Fitted with advanced infrared wildfire tracking technology, the aircraft is crucial for collecting data on pyrocumulonimbus clouds. NASA highlighted the importance of monitoring these storms in real-time to enhance forecasting capabilities and mitigate potential risks associated with them.
Image Caption: The flight path of NASA’s ER-2 Earth Resources aircraft flight over British Columbia on Saturday, Aug. 8, as tracked by Flightradar24. (The Canadian Press/Flightradar24)
