Use case: Infrastructure planning and upgrades
The National Bushfire Intelligence Capability’s bushfire hazard mapping products have multiple applications.
These products inform decisions for investment in resilience in the built environment, ranging from residential housing to industry assets
Communities and industry rely heavily on telecommunications networks, especially during natural disasters and extreme weather events. Bushfire poses a major threat to critical telecommunications infrastructure.
With coverage at the national scale, the National Bushfire Intelligence Capability can uniquely resolve risk down to the level of an individual asset.
This map shows how Optus infrastructure, such as the pictured Dixon’s Creek Site in Victoria, is assessed for fire threat or building loss potential. Each coloured dot shows the level of hazard that location presents to the Optus infrastructure in the centre of the image. Locations are analysed for ember, radiant and flame threat, with the red dots showing the highest threat due to vegetation, proximity and slope at those locations. Locations with green dots may still pose some risk to bushfire, but do not pose as much of a threat to the infrastructure. © Optus
One such demonstration is a collaboration with Optus to assess and mitigate network vulnerability to reasonable worst case bushfire hazard.
NBIC utilised data on topography, fuel load, vegetation type and local bushfire weather severity to develop maps that were used to prioritise site design changes and upgrades to protect telecommunications infrastructure.
The red dots, which surround the current mobile tower at Dixons Creek, indicate a bigger potential for structure damage.
Such towers are vulnerable to ember attack, particularly from underneath the footing, so metal shields have now been installed to prevent debris collecting there.
Optus says the chance of the 40 towers being lost across the country during a catastrophic fire has been reduced by 6 times because of the work.