The Bushfire Data Quest 2020

The bushfires experienced during the 2019/2020 Australian summer were bigger and more intense than any fires in living memory. Driven by our heating climate, record-breaking ‘megafires’ have since wrought similar destruction around the world. The 2021 IPCC Report clearly states that the risk of severe wildfires is increasing globally. However, new capabilities in remote-sensing and artificial intelligence can help prepare for coming fire seasons, improve fire-fighting capability, and boost the resilience of fire-affected communities and ecosystems.

During the 2020 Bushfire Data Quest the potential of space data and AI for bushfire defence was explored across the following challenge areas: (1) Fuel Assessment and Fire Risk - in other words, the dryness and characteristics of the bush itself, which informs both the likelihood of a destructive fire and its progress; (2) Early Detection - crucial for rapid response and triage; (3) Fire Behaviour - how a fire evolves is critical for co-ordinated response planning.

Explore more at the Bushfire Situational Awareness page and in the Data Quest report, and showcase, below.