Aerosol particles in high smoke plumes reflect more light back into space. Closer to Earth’s surface, there is more oxygen to absorb light at the 688 nanometer wavelength, so less light is reflected.

Smoke from the wildfires that have devastated the Los Angeles area can even be seen from space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration earlier this week shared satellite images capturing ...

Grim satellite images taken by NASA show the out-of-control Los Angeles wildfires from space. One image, taken by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite after the Palisades Fire erupted ...

For most of the past decade, forecasters have been able to use satellites to track these smoke plumes, but the view was only two-dimensional: The satellites couldn’t determine how close the smoke was ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) For most of the past decade, forecasters have been able to use satellites to track ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) For most of the past decade, forecasters have been able to use satellites to track ...