INSPYRE campaign and French cloud‑seeding study fire‑driven storms

The INSPYRE scientific campaign will fly from July 27 to September 11, 2026 over the western United States to study pyrocumulonimbus clouds that form above large wildfires. Using a NASA ER‑2 high‑altitude research aircraft and an NSF‑operated Gulfstream V, researchers will measure the structure, chemistry and radiative impact of the smoke plumes that can reach the stratosphere, and assess associated lightning and turbulence risks for fire‑fighting aircraft.

In southwestern France, scientists are examining whether cloud‑seeding could help suppress ongoing wildfires. Physicist François‑Marie Bréon and meteorologist Andrea Flossmann explain that seeding works only when moisture‑rich clouds already exist, which is not the case during the severe drought. They caution that the dry soils and lack of atmospheric humidity make artificial rain unlikely, despite past successes in other countries.