DigitalGlobe promised that the shortwave infrared sensor on its WorldView-3 satellite could see through smoke to track wildfires, and one of its latest images has delivered on that pledge: The picture, captured from an altitude of 383 miles (617 kilometers) last week, reveals the burn line around the Happy Camp Complex fire in California’s Klamath National Forest. In the visible spectrum, WorldView-3 could see little more than the smoke rising from the blaze. But the color-coded view from three of the SWIR sensor’s eight infrared bands shows exactly how far the fire had spread. An interactive slider image included in Digital Globe’s blog post graphically demonstrates the difference. Read more via NBC News
