GOES 16 opening up the era of high definition weather satellite imagery and data. Case study: Detwiler Fire burning out of control in California.

GOES 16 visible imagery of the Detwiler Fire, which is currently burning out of control in Mariposa County, California. Although the short video animation included here is of images taken every 5 minutes, GOES 16 has the capability of 1-minute time steps. This will prove as valuable information for fire crews on the ground battling this fire. In addition, nighttime viewing is still possible using infrared wavelengths to see the heat of the fire. Both are a dramatic step up from the previous generation of GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite). Resolution in the visible spectrum has increased to 500 m from 1000 m previously and infrared at 2 km from 4 km previously. The time step between images of the older generation 15-30 minutes, vs the aforementioned 1 or 5 minutes, which means rapid changes on the ground can be monitored.