Marsa scrapyard fire visible from space
Plume of smoke visible in satellite imagery
Updated 2.45pm
A massive industrial fire at a Marsa scrapyard Friday appeared to be visible from space, according to US satellite imagery.
An image retrieved from the NOAA-21 weather satellite appears to show a plume of smoke drifting east away from Malta. The origin of the plume in the image appears consistent with the location of the fire.
The smoke was spotted by eagle-eyed satellite imagery enthusiast Jeannot Kuenzel, who checked satellite imagery of Malta after passing the fire while driving past Marsa.
Friday’s fire was the second in four years to engulf the same scrapyard, which had previously been warned about a long list of environmental infringements. One source described CPD officers as being “overwhelmed” trying to fight the blaze.
Speaking to Times of Malta, Kuenzel said he had been driving in his car when he noticed billowing clouds on the horizon in the direction of the Grand Harbour.
“One particular cloud formation stood out, moving fast and expanding rapidly. It took us a while to realise that this was coming from Marsa. It was a spectacular sight to behold and rather intimidating when we realised just how massive the fire must be.”
Kuenzel accessed the satellite imagery from home using a radar dish and a laptop.
He said he accessed the image as the satellite passed overhead, while noting that, in his experience, “smoke of this magnitude is usually seen emitting from Etna or wildfires only”.
Fellow satellite imagery enthusiast Victor Venczel was also tracking the satellite at the time.
"The satellite has instruments which are sensitive across visible and infrared wavelengths. Large columns of smoke tend to spread out at higher altitudes, so they show up well in the visible channels even without any special processing," Venczel and his colleague Alexei Pace explained. "On today’s pass, the plume was already stretched out towards the east, which made it easy to identify against the sea background."
The NOAA-21 weather satellite forms part of the Joint Polar Satellite System, operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The system comprises three satellites circling the globe 14 times a day.
The Joint Polar Satellite System provides detailed and up-to-date information on the world’s atmosphere, land and waters.