The three pixels pointed to by the arrow in this 3.9 um image are those
being directly affected by the Pingree fire at 9:00 PM LST (time of map,
previous page). The GOES is viewing an unobscured fire scene. At this
time, the only clouds in the region were a scattered, thin cirrus deck not
over the fire scene (fires can be observed through thin cirrus at 3.9 um).
VIS imagery showed smoke from the fire was advected eastward, and
with the satellite viewing from nearly due south, smoke obscuration was
minimal. Finally, a significant part of the hottest burn was in the crowns
of the trees, eliminating the possibility of tree canopy obscuration of a brush
fire below, allowing the GOES a nearly unobscured view of the fire scene.
The 3 rows of numbers show the temperatures (K) of the pixels in the immediate proximity of the fire, including the three fire-affected pixels (asterisked).