GeoFire Real-Time Wildfire Alert System

The program objective is to build test and deploy the GeoFire Real-Time Wildfire Alert System (WAS) to definitively answer where a wildfire is right now and where it is heading next. This is accomplished by using a high-density sensor network to track the location and growth of individual wildfire cells in real time. The GeoFire WAS is designed for exceptionally reliable operation: accurate fire detection without false alarms autonomous operation without human-in-the-loop interaction sufficient resiliency to tolerate the failure of individual sensors without compromising system coverage and rugged hardware construction for 10+ year lifetime operation in all weather conditions. With its combination of spatial resolution response time accuracy and fault tolerance the GeoFire WAS is intended to augment existing ground- and satellite-based wildfire detection systems. When deployed in target areas such as residential neighborhoods at the wildland urban interface (WUI) industrial and commercial campuses or high-voltage power lines the system delivers community and asset protection at an unprecedented scale which allows government and commercial stakeholders to make timely and effective decisions about wildfire mitigation efforts to prevent property loss and loss of life. The system also provides early warning to residents even when the local infrastructure including power and cellular is offline. These unique capabilities demonstrate that the GeoFire WAS is responsive to the needs of USDA for the detection management and risk reduction of wildfires.