NOAA tests next-generation wildfire detection and warning tools

NOAA researchers examine a high-wind event in an upcoming simulation. Credit: Lauren Lipuma/CIRES

Two experimental tools that will speed fire detection and warning got a week-long test run in NOAA’s new Fire Weather Testbed in June during a series of hands-on simulations with National Weather Service fire weather forecasters, state wildfire managers, researchers, and social scientists.

The first, NOAA’s Next Generation Fire System, or NGFS, uses artificial intelligence to rapidly and autonomously identify fires from observations made by geostationary satellites. By quickly communicating information to forecasters and land managers, it reduces response time when a swift initial attack is most critical.

NGFS, which was developed by NOAA Satellites, uses artificial intelligence to rapidly and autonomously identify fires from observations collected by NOAA’s geostationary satellites. By quickly communicating information to forecasters and land managers, the new system reduces response time when a swift initial attack is most critical.

The second, the application of the Integrated Warning Team paradigm to wildfire, speeds the exchange of information between meteorologists and land managers and fire agencies to issue fire warnings through NWS channels for rapidly spreading wildfires threatening life and property.