CIRES at CU Boulder Offers up-to-date Information on Active Fires, Smoke, Wind, and Air Quality

Every year, tens of thousands of wildfires burn millions of acres in the United States, blanketing one community after another in smoke. The fire experts at the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and CU Boulder have compiled a list of go-to resources that provide up-to-date information on how the wildfires are progressing, the smoke transport in the atmosphere, and impacts on air quality. These efforts draw on many different sources of information — from local air quality monitoring stations to satellites in space. They represent how big data, and the hundreds of scientists behind those data, are helping us understand fire.

For Example:

Check out this interactive map from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) US/Canada. This visualization platform provides fire incident data, including satellite-based detections from MODIS and VIIRS, active fire perimeters, NowCoast radar, and fire weather. You can download data in KML format (for viewing on Google Earth). To learn more about the number of fires and acres burned in the United States, visit the national statistics page from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).

For air quality information, check out AirNow. This website gives real-time air quality data on particulate matter and ozone, based on your location. It ties your location to the nearest monitoring station around the country. For just exploring particulate air pollution, check out the PurpleAir sensor map or openaq, an open-source air quality data network. You can also view forecasts of U.S. air quality from NCAR’s WRF-CHEM. 

Always check with your local emergency department for specific information on evacuations and immediate threats to lives and property.

About CIRES:

The Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences includes more than 900 people working to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people’s relationship with the planet. An institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, CIRES has partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 1967.

CIRES' areas of expertise include weather and climate, wildfire and water, changes at Earth’s poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences, and more.

CIRES mission: Conduct innovative research that advances our understanding of the global, regional, and local environments and the human relationship with those environments, for the benefit of society.