A breakthrough in wildfire detection: How a new constellation of satellites can detect wildfires as small as 5x5 meters earlier

Good news! Impressive! Let's put AI and satellite imagery to good use!

"... Until now, firefighters have had to rely on satellite imagery that’s either low resolution or only updated a few times a day, making it difficult to detect fires until they’ve grown larger than a soccer field.

Google Research has teamed up with leaders in the fire community to create FireSat — a purpose-built constellation of satellites designed specifically to detect and track wildfires as small as a classroom (roughly 5x5 meters). With FireSat, authorities will have high-resolution imagery that is updated globally every 20 minutes, helping them respond to fires before they become destructive. ...

the Google Research team contributed to the development of custom infrared sensors for the satellite  ... that could better detect small-scale fires. Using AI, FireSat will rapidly compare any 5x5 meter spot on earth with previous imagery, while also combining factors like nearby infrastructure and local weather, to determine if there's a fire. ..."

Google Research and the fire community create FireSat, a new constellation of satellites built to detect and track wildfires. "We’re partnering with leading wildfire authorities to launch FireSat, a new global satellite constellation designed specifically to detect and track wildfires the size of a classroom within 20 minutes."

Credits: Google is funding an AI-powered satellite constellation that will spot wildfires faster