Enhancing Fire Response: Introducing Fire Spread Product for Real-Time Wildfire Predictions
- October 31, 2023
- 10:00 AM
During the recent wildfire season in Europe, countries like Spain, Portugal, and Greece faced devastating blazes, leading to evacuations and chaos. The unpredictable nature of these fires underscores a crucial issue: without a reliable risk management tool for more effective fire response, the safety of ecosystems and people remains in jeopardy. Existing satellite coverage has afternoon gaps, leaving us uninformed about the unfolding disaster during the peak hot time of the day. So, how could we fill these gaps to more effectively manage the threats?
To address this challenge, creating our own Fire Spread Product emerged as a vital solution. This article explores the technology behind our newest development, highlighting its significant impact on firefighting. Our Fire Spread Product provides real-time predictions, enabling frontline responders to plan routes and deploy resources effectively with just a click in their API or via our Wildfire Solution platform.
Understanding OroraTech’s Fire Spread Product
OroraTech’s Fire Spread Product is designed to track and predict wildfire movement in real time. By utilizing the latest fire data, it forecasts the potential path of a wildfire in the upcoming hours. This information is crucial for strategic planning and mitigation efforts, especially in areas where direct observations are limited due to factors like cloud cover or infrequent satellite passes, and can be updated frequently as new data becomes available.
This product serves a vital purpose in reducing the impact of wildfires on both communities and ecosystems. Its main benefits include:
- Timely and Accurate Information: Our Fire Spread Product provides insights on the fire behavior within a certain time frame, even in areas where direct observations are challenging due to weather conditions or satellite limitations.
- Comprehensive Approach: The model incorporates essential fire drivers, such as wind patterns, land coverage, and slope data, to accurately predict how a fire will behave.
- Proven Reliability: Based on the reputable Rothermel model, our Fire Spread Product utilizes a well-established and widely-used fire spread framework, ensuring reliability and accuracy in predicting wildfire spread.
One of the first applications of the Fire Spread Product on the fire in Saskatchewan, Canada in May 2023. More details: LinkedIn
How the Fire Spread Product Works: A Glimpse Under the Hood
To initiate the Fire Spread predictions, we start with the active fire data detected through our Wildfire Solution platform. Real-time predictions demand up-to-the-minute data, and our model uses the latest satellite detections to establish an initial fire front. This enables us to project the fire’s spread in the upcoming hours, bridging the gap until the next satellite acquisition.
The technology behind our Fire Spread Product
In our cutting-edge Fire Spread Product, we incorporate the main fire drivers to enhance predictive accuracy:
- Wind Direction and Speed: Wind data is a fundamental factor in wildfire spread modeling. We integrate precise wind speed and direction predictions from reputable forecasting institutions, ensuring the reliability of our Fire Spread Product. Customers focused on specific areas also have the option to incorporate local, higher-resolution forecasts or superior weather models they are subscribed to.
- Slope and Elevation: Terrain characteristics significantly impact wildfire behavior, since fires spread differently on slopes compared to flat lands and vary depending on altitude. Our product accounts for these factors and provides in-depth global topography insights, crucial for predicting the fire’s path accurately.
- Available Fuel: Vegetation type profoundly influences fire behavior, with different materials showing different flammability and burn times. To address this, we integrate a globally renowned land cover product, mapping Earth’s surface materials. This data helps us anticipate how a fire might behave when encountering different fuels.
The Fire Spread simulation of the Dervenochoria Wildfire in Greece from July 18 for the next 24 hours. The comparison of the prediction with the total Burnt Area from July 30 shows the preciseness of the Fire Spread Product. Visualization via OroraTech’s Wildfire Solution platform.
Crucially, real-time predictions depend on real-time data. Our ongoing efforts to enhance detection accuracy, coupled with our upcoming thermal sensor network, will further contribute to the growing reliability of our Fire Spread Product.
Tailored for a Diverse Audience: Benefits and Applications
Our Fire Spread Product stands out for its simplicity and speed. Its user-friendly interface and quick predictions make it accessible to everyone, even those without technical knowledge of fire analysis. With just a few clicks, users can effortlessly predict the fire path for the next few hours, eliminating the need for specialized expertise. This easy-to-use characteristic makes our product suitable for anyone interested in accessing the fire spread.
Fire services and forestry departments are not the only ones who benefit from access to our Fire Spread Product. Utility companies find immense value in it too. By detecting a fire’s approach towards essential infrastructure, immediate actions can be taken, ensuring timely interventions and redirecting critical services swiftly.
Navigating a Safer Future with Space Data
In the face of wildfires, people’s determination meets advanced technology. While the courage of firefighters remains indispensable, tools like our Fire Spread Product arm them with valuable insights. Looking back at last summer’s fires in Europe, this tool gives us hope for better prediction, planning, and fire mitigation.
However, we do not plan to stop here. Our commitment is to create real-time prediction models, that update every 30 minutes with the help of satellite data. Additionally, by continuously harnessing our extensive database of historical fires, we will keep refining our Fire Spread Product, ensuring a more resilient future against the onslaught of wildfires.
