Obtain the hourly data set of weather observables.
Temperature data:
Data taken from Government of Canada (2016)
The temperature on May 4th was highest at 15:00 and lowest at 06:00. The timings of these values are very similar to the plot given in the textbook example, which suggests that the minimum daily temperature occurs at 06:00 and the maximum is at 18:00. The highest temperature in the current data occurs slightly earlier, which may be due to the fact that Alberta was observing DST (Botkin & Keller, 2011).
UV Index data
The minimum UV index values are expected to occur during the hours of darkness, approximately between 20:00 and 04:00 on 4th May. In the example given by the textbook, the values are given as being between 18:00 and 08:00, although this variation can be explained by the time of year and the observation of DST (Botkin & Keller, 2011). The highest expected UV value given by the example is 12:00 noon, which matches with the expected values for 4th May (Environment Canada, 2016).
The mechanism of heat transfer is thermal radiation (Botkin & Keller, 2011).
There is a lag between incoming solar energy and maximum temperature because the incoming energy is counteracting the loss of heat from the surface that occurs overnight (Botkin & Keller, 2011).
At 7pm the UV index is likely to be around 0.05.
The Fire Triangle
The temperature of 28⁰C at 12:00
Visibility Data
The term visibility describes how far individuals can see in a certain environment. In terms of weather, it describes how clear both the atmosphere and air are, which includes measures of fog, mist, and urban pollution (Botkin & Keller, 2011).
Data taken from Government of Canada (2016)
Based on the data above, the smoke from the fire starts to appear at around 16:00. This state of reduced visibility is present until the end of the day, although it appears to begin improving after a low at 20:00. The reduced visibility is likely to continue until the fire is stopped, as the fire will continue to produce smoke until this point.
Smoke Cloud Data
A 1km thick smoke cloud would transmit 0% of incoming solar energy. It would reflect around 90% of solar energy. It would absorb around 10% of solar energy. If the cloud continues to thicken, the transmission percentage will not change as the minimum value has already been reached. The reflection percentage would increase to close to 100% with increasing thickness. The absorption percentage would slowly increase as the cloud thickened, although likely never going about 15%.
The effective UV index at 7pm is 0.05 with a reflection percentage of 90%, or 0.005.
The thickening smoke cloud has little effect on the temperature because after 8pm there is no incoming solar energy anyway. The smoke cloud would have had a larger effect if it had occurred earlier in the day, but at this point it is not blocking UV rays. This means that the standard process of equilibrium between heat loss from the earth and incoming heat from solar energy continues almost unchanged.
Satellite Imagery
Evidence of the fires would be expected when using a visible light camera as it would show similar evidence as can be seen with the human eye. With this type of image, the smoke is the most obvious evidence of a fire. The following photo highlights this (Lynn, 2016).
It is expected that evidence of the Ft. McMurray fires would be visible using infrared imagery because these work on the principles of thermographic technology. This means that they pick up on infrared radiation, usually referred to as heat. This night-time image of the fires shows where the heat is strongest (Mortillaro, 2016).
References
Botkin, D. B., & Keller, E. A. (2011). Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet. Wiley.
Environment Canada. (2016). UV Index Calculator. Retrieved May 27, 2016, from http://exp-studies.tor.ec.gc.ca/cgi-bin/uv_index_calculator?annual.x=223&annual.y=323&lang=e&mmdd=0502&lat=56.67&lon=-111.26&altitude=369&altunit=m&ozoneadjust=0&uviadjust=0
Government of Canada, E. (2011, October 31). Hourly Data Report for May 04, 2016 - Climate - Environment Canada. Retrieved May 27, 2016, from http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/hourly_data_e.html?hlyRange=2011-10-17%7C2016-05-14&dlyRange=2011-10-20%7C2016-05-14&mlyRange=%7C&StationID=49490&Prov=AB&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnProv&optLimit=specDate&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=104&lstProvince=AB&timeframe=1&Year=2016&Month=5&Day=4
Jenner, L. (2016, May 18). NASA Satellites Image Fort McMurray Fires Day and Night [Text]. Retrieved May 27, 2016, from http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-satellites-image-fort-mcmurray-fires-day-and-night
Mortillaro, N. (2016, May 5). NASA sees Fort McMurray wildfires from space. Global News. Canada. Retrieved from http://globalnews.ca/news/2683261/nasa-sees-fort-mcmurray-wildfires-from-space/
