up:: Forest fires
Description of need
Many wildfires are caused by power line failures. Some power lines are especially far from fire stations.
Problem severity (1-10)
8
Who has this need
Utility companies State governments
Total addressable market (TAM)
Solutions today, and their shortcomings
Satellite-related solutions:
- OroraTech is plotting a small satellite constellation dedicated to wildfire monitoring.
- Hitachi Energy announced a solution in May to help utilities prevent wildfires using artificial technology and imagery satellites from Maxar Technologies.
- Chooch AI uses a system that analyzes satellite images every 10 minutes to identify where new wildfires started
- Salo Sciences teamed up with Planet, a satellite company founded by NASA scientists, to build a monitoring system called the California Forest Observatory, which uses AI and satellite images to create a detailed map of forested land in California to help predict and prevent wildfires.
Potentially relevant capabilities
Satellite-based remote sensing for wildfire prevention
Satellites for fire monitoring include:
- Spectroradiometer (e.g. MODIS on Terra / Aqua)
- Radiometer (e.g. VIIRS on SUOPI NPP)
- Infrared sensor (e.g. Landsat 8)
- Synthetic aperture radar (e.g. on Sentinel)
References
- 🔥 Roundup on this topic: link