A NASA high-altitude research aircraft conducted flights over the wildfires in British Columbia over the weekend to enhance the understanding of weather phenomena triggered by large fires. Tracking data revealed that the ER-2 plane flew multiple times over B.C.’s southern Interior on Saturday for over six hours, departing from Great Falls, Mont.
Flight data from the Flightradar24 website indicated that the aircraft spent approximately four hours at an altitude of 60,000 feet above the Clinton area, where the extensive Pear Lake wildfire has been raging. The plane also veered eastward over Lake Revelstoke before reentering U.S. airspace.
NASA’s research focus with the ER-2 aircraft includes studying pyrocumulonimbus clouds, described as one of Earth’s least understood severe weather phenomena. The B.C. Wildfire Service noted that the Pear Lake wildfire, covering nearly 1,500 square kilometers, has generated such clouds resulting from intense smoke and heat, capable of producing rain, lightning, and fire tornadoes.
The ER-2 aircraft, a retrofitted Cold War spy plane also known as the U-2, has a history of setting altitude records, flying up to twice as high as commercial flights. Equipped with advanced infrared wildfire trackers, the aircraft collects data on pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
NASA emphasized that these unique storms, characterized by smoke and lightning, pose risks to aviators above and can ignite new fires below. By monitoring and mapping these hazardous events in real-time, scientists aim to improve forecasting capabilities for the future.
