Using EO and ML to prevent, control and better recover from bushfires – May 2020

One of the most amazing things the space industry can do is to help researchers across many areas work together to tackle some of our biggest problems.

Can AI, primed with data from multiple satellites and local sensor networks, detect bushfires earlier, predict fire behaviour and help emergency services respond more effectively to protect homes, people and valuable natural capital? This is the topic of the Frontier Development Labs 2020 Bushfires DataQuest.

DataQuests are held around the world and sponsored by top universities and space agencies to tackle the toughest issues facing our planet. This is the first DataQuest in Australia and it is focused on bushfire prevention, detection, control and recovery. Data from satellites and local sensor networks will help researchers use machine learning and artificial intelligence to support the rapid development of solutions that may be able to prevent, detect, and predict fire behaviour and help emergency response teams respond and protect people. Best of all, the results become public for any country or group to use to save lives.

The Centre is proud to support this initiative. Over one week in August, super motivated teams, with talented mentors will tackle this challenge in a deeply focused, interdisciplinary environment. Find out more on the DataQuest 2020 website.