Description of capability
Lots of satellites can be used for monitoring emissions and infrastructure. Kerri Cahoy proposes an integrated framework to synthesize all the relevant data sets and instruments.
Many wildfires are caused by power line failures. Some power lines are especially far from fire stations. 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)
When power lines have arc discharges, they emit broad band RF that can be detected by satellites! Power line sag and swing can also tell you about power line health. You can also infer the state of nearby vegetation.
Cahoy envisions drones that follow up rapidly on signals picked up by the satellites.
Key people
Kerri Cahoy and her graduate students, especially Mary Dahl
Technology Readiness Level (1-9)
3
Needs that this could potentially address
Tech specs
TBD
Estimated time & cost to commercialize
2 years