Bushfire Detection in Australia: Fire Foresight
Posted: October 21, 2023 Filed under: AI, startup, wildfire detection | Tags: australia, bushfire detection, Fire Foresight, Fire Shield, Minderoo, wildfire detection Leave a commentMy journey in Bushfire Detection in Australia began in early 2020. We collaborated with our partners to present and submit our proposal for early bushfire detection to the Minderoo Foundation’s Fire and Flood Resilience initiative. Our proposal focused on the Fire Shield mission: extinguish any dangerous fire anywhere in the country within one hour.
The engagement was inspiring. We wanted to, and believed we could, do more.
Fast forward to 2023, the Fire Shield’s focus has shifted towards resilience and disaster preparedness. My startup, RoboticsCats, has transitioned its core product from camera hardware to LookOut, an AI wildfire detection software-as-a-service. We built LookOut to achieve two goals:
- Detect: Immediately identify fires from the ground
- Share: Share information in real time for immediate decisions
Our AI wildfire detection technology now safeguards forests in over 10 countries, including Australia.
We have gained valuable experience in supporting Australian environments and are working closely with more industry leaders and experts. We are now part of a stronger team dedicated to serving businesses and communities in Australia.
Indicium Dynamics is a full-service Internet of Things (IoT) and data integration solutions provider headquartered in Tasmania, Australia. They offer solutions for Smart Buildings, Smart Cities, Digital Forests, Smart Agriculture, Smart Utilities, and Disaster Resilience to customers in the ANZ region.
Indicium Dynamics has partnered with RoboticsCats to assist Australian customers in reducing bushfire risks. Leveraging its expertise, Indicium Dynamics integrates LookOut Wildfire Detection SaaS into its IoT platform to provide Fire Foresight to customers. Fire Foresight combines the best of data analytics, IoT connectivity, and AI-powered vision to offer Australia the most advanced bushfire detection system available on the market.
Current weather conditions indicate a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) event for the first time in four years, which will reduce the amount of rain and moist air reaching Australia from the northwest and increase temperatures in parts of the country. When an El Niño and a positive IOD occur simultaneously, their drying effect is typically stronger and more widespread across Australia.
The 2023 Australian bushfire season presents significant challenges. There is a new Wikipedia page dedicated to this fire season.
Experts agree that fires need to be detected earlier to be extinguished before they grow too large. Early detection is a game changer for firefighting, but current capabilities are inaccurate, not precise enough, or with limited coverage.
“From space, a hot pixel represents 1km2 and the false positive rate can reach 40%, inhibiting the reliability of observations and delaying action. Closer to the ground, planes cannot roam the sky 24/7 and ground detection is limited in the coverage area,” said XPRIZE.
All detection methods are challenged by certain environmental conditions. Camera-based early bushfire detection is the best-performing and most widely adopted solution nowadays.
Summer is approaching in Australia; now is the time to prepare adequately for the fire season and enhance disaster resilience. Fire Foresight supports a wide range of IoT sensors and image inputs, including professional surveillance cameras, security webcams, smartphones, and live web photos. Depending on your needs and environment, Fire Foresight can work with newly procured equipment as well as your existing security cameras.
Over the last four years, we have met and served customers around the world, from Hong Kong to Australia, Indonesia, Portugal, Greece, South Korea, Uruguay, Brazil, Spain, the USA, Singapore, and Colombia. The road less traveled has refined our technology and ecosystem.
We are well-positioned to help Australia detect bushfire outbreaks and improve resilience. Please contact sales@indiciumdynamics.com for more information about Fire Foresight.
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