See ash falling? Take a picture to help scientists track California wildfires like never before

Mercury News.com  –

Radar can tell us exactly where it’s raining the heaviest — sometimes down to the exact neighborhood and street. So why can’t it tell us whether an entire community is on fire? To improve the performance of this powerful tool, scientists are appealing to Bay Area residents to photograph the ash that has fallen on cars, sidewalks, porches, streets and other surfaces, and share that information on Twitter.