OBSERVING FOREST-FIRES WITH THE GOES-8, 3.9-MU-M IMAGING CHANNEL

Blackbody radiation at 3.9 mu m increases rapidly with temperature. Th is fact suggests a potential application by fire weather meteorologist s of the 3.9-mu m imagery data provided by the new GOES-8 weather sate llite. The ability of the 3.9-mu m channel to sense forest fires is br iefly discussed and an example case study is presented. A simple radia tion model is used to estimate the minimum detectable fire size for se veral types of wildfires.