Google announced that its environmental project to help detect Australian bushfires early has been established.
Named FireSat, this project will use AI-powered satellites to assist Australian firefighters in discovering bushfires during their infant stage so that early action can be taken to extinguish the fire quickly.
A constellation of 52 satellites will be launched to collect high-resolution images of the Earth every 20 minutes, using purpose-built software to identify potential fire spots as small as the size of a classroom.
According to Google lead researcher in climate and energy, Christopher Van Arsdale, the current, not-so-effective fire identification ability is due to two things: the low-resolution images produced and the images not being delivered frequently enough.
To solve this issue, Google has partnered with Muon Space and the Environmental Defence Fund to set up infra-red sensors capable of detecting smaller fires and covering the globe.
“We realised, searching around, that there was a huge gap in the data available today,” Van Arsdale said on Sept. 17.
“We hope by filling this gap, it will help unlock options for better ecosystem management and help sustain the existing balance of our environment.”
He said that part of the reason for establishing the satellite constellation was the Australian bushfire situation.
“When we designed the satellite constellation, and we were looking at its capabilities, certainly the bushfires in Australia were part of the design requirements,” he said.
“We are going to make this data as broadly available as possible.”
Van Arsdale said that artificial intelligence and machine-learning software would be used to compare images to identify fires as small as five square metres.
More Things To Be Done
Brian Collins, Earth Fire Alliance executive director, said the first satellite of this project will not be launched before March next year, and comprehensive data might not be available until more satellites are available online.“It will be collecting [data] during the 2025 season but it’s one satellite, not a full constellation, and it will be learning and sharing the data with our Australian early adopters,” he said.
He said that three more satellites will be launched roughly in 2026.
“Operationally, our biggest impact to Australia will be in the 2026 time-frame when we launch our next three operational satellites.”
Addressing the importance and relevance of Australian bushfires, CSIRO Data61 senior principal research scientist Mahesh Prakash said that knowing the location of bushfires would not only help firefighters but could assist scientists in predicting where fires would break out.
“Providing real-time, high-resolution inputs to such model predictions could assist firefighters in their decision-making processes and make a difference in how wildfires are managed,” he said.
“Any improvements to wildfire detection could aid in enhancing model predictions.”
Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest and Nicola Forrest’s philanthropic Mindaroo Foundation also assisted with the FireSat project.
Google previously introduced bushfire warnings to its Maps application in the United States in 2020 and Australia in December 2021.
