🔥 How AI is Helping to Put Out Fires
Wildfires kill hundreds of people every year. Due to climate change, the number of casualties and damage are only increasing. In 2023, more than 12 million hectares of land burned worldwide, and global fire damage exceeded $4 billion.
AI-powered technologies help rescuers identify the fire-prone regions in advance and respond to fires much faster.
❤️🔥 How it works
Spanish startup Technosylva uses a machine-learning tool called Wildfire Analyst. It works on a huge dataset based on information about fires in a specific region over the last 30 years. These data include NASA satellite imagery, weather, landscape and vegetation data, CO2 content in the atmosphere, and soil moisture levels.
The program runs over half a billion simulations daily and identifies real-time risks. Rescuers have already used this AI wildfire forecasting platform for over 30,000 incidents. The service operates in 11 countries.
AI tools sift through mountains of data, which allows humans to make more informed and timely decisions, while freeing up more time for communicating and coordinating with stakeholders and partners.
Mike Pavolonis, physicist, Wildland Fire Program Manager
👏 How it's helpful
When a 911 call reports that a fire has started, AI takes up to 20 seconds to determine the possible consequences and scope. Previously, such calculations sometimes took hours.
Technosylva's FireCast app predicts fire risks for the next five days during California's fire season. That's enough time to alert emergency services and evacuate people.
🆕 Another new AI model, LightningCast, analyzes more than 6,600 satellite images daily and predicts fire-starting lightning for the next hour. The model even predicts the most dangerous "dry" lightning.
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