FUEGO — Fire Urgency Estimator in Geosynchronous Orbit — A Proposed Early-Warning Fire Detection System

Abstract

Current and planned wildfire detection systems are impressive but lack both sensitivity and rapid response times. A small telescope with modern detectors and significant computing capacity in geosynchronous orbit can detect small (12 m 2 ) fires on the surface of the earth, cover most of the western United States (under conditions of moderately clear skies) every few minutes or so, and attain very good signal-to-noise ratio against Poisson fluctuations in a second. Hence, these favorable statistical significances have initiated a study of how such a satellite could operate and reject the large number of expected systematic false alarms from a number of sources. Here we present both studies of the backgrounds in Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) 15 data and studies that probe the sensitivity of a fire detection satellite in geosynchronous orbit. We suggest a number of algorithms that can help reduce false alarms, and show efficacy on a few. Early detection and response would be of true value in the United States and other nations, as wildland fires continue to severely stress resource managers, policy makers, and the public, particularly in the western US. Here, we propose the framework for a geosynchronous OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2013, 5 5174 satellite with modern imaging detectors, software, and algorithms able to detect heat from early and small fires, and yield minute-scale detection times.

Disaggregated Space System Concept Optimization: Model-Based Conceptual Design Methods

“…The SMAD text assumes an SNR value of 88 is acceptable for a low fire detection false alarm rate based upon heritage (MODIS) sensor performance (Larson and Wertz, ). A similar SNR value of 100 was identified as sufficient for fire detection in Pennypacker and Jakubowski (). Likewise, we assume a SNR of greater than 100 was sufficient for fire detection.…”

“…describe a space‐based fire detection and observation concept utilizing a constellation of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites to meet the objectives of a proposed European Space Agency (ESA) FUEGO program. Additional information was derived from Pennypacker and Jakubowski (). Pennypacker et al.…”

“…OFUEGO system requirements were determined by analyzing and consolidating performance requirements summarized in Escorial et al (2003) and Pennypacker and Jakubowski (2013). These consolidated performance requirements are summarized and compared to the approximate performance of existing systems in Table I.…”

Preliminary Results from a Wildfire Detection System Using Deep Learning on Remote Camera Images

“…There are many sensors that can potentially detect fires from long distances, ranging from satellites to aerial vehicles to mountain top cameras. Some of the past research has focused on satellites [11,12] and there are several operational satellites deployed today. In the United States, some of the main satellites used for fire detection are GOES 16, GOES 17, MODIS and VIIRS.…”

“…A small but hot fire growing in moderate fuels may burn hot enough to be detected above the background, but many times fires that are burning slowly and even large fires in light fuels do not always generate enough heat to rise above the background noise. Theoretically, it may be possible to build geosynchronous satellites with resolution sufficient to detect fires in moderate fuels that are 10 square meters [11] with fast cadence and data transfer. Although no such publicly accessible system has been built and deployed, the trends are encouraging for the future.…”