Why a high-altitude NASA aircraft was recently flying over B.C. and the rise of firenadoes | Daily Hive

A flight tracker earlier this week found a NASA aircraft flying over British Columbia, and NASA’s INSPYRE project says the province’s wildfire activity is the reason. The mission, led by principal investigator Dr. David Peterson, tests whether larger, more intense wildfires amplify pyroCb-driven smoke into the stratosphere and alter Earth’s radiative balance. NASA is using an ER-2 aircraft and a Gulfstream V to conduct repeated passes over the Pear Lake wildfire, flying around 60,000 feet with no passengers onboard. The ER-2 can measure fire conditions at 50-meter resolution every 15 to 20 minutes, helping researchers gauge fire spread, plume growth, and whether thunderstorms or “firenadoes” develop. The flights started a couple of weeks ago and continue through mid-September.