Making Synapses · Bringing Knowledge to Mankind
FirefightersWildfire Tech From Space and Sky
Twenty flashcards on satellites, drones and research aircraft that already help fight wildfires.
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20 cards
- What is NOAA's NGFS?
- Next Generation Fire System: AI that spots fires in geostationary satellite data.
- How high are the GOES satellites?
- In geostationary orbit, about 22,000 miles above Earth.
- Smallest fire NGFS can detect?
- About one acre.
- What does the NGFS dashboard show?
- Fire location and intensity, with Red Flag Warnings, perimeters and fuels data.
- Where was NGFS tested in June 2024?
- NOAA's Fire Weather Testbed in Boulder, Colorado.
- How many simulations ran that test week?
- Seven, based on past fires in the Southern Plains, Rockies and Pacific Northwest.
- Who funds NGFS and the Fire Weather Testbed?
- The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- First Integrated Warning Team fire warnings?
- March 2022, in Oklahoma.
- Where are NGFS fire data shared?
- NOAA's Wildland Fire Data Portal, for forecasters, dispatchers and first responders.
- After detection, what does NGFS do?
- It tracks and records the fire's spread and intensity.
- NOAA's figure for the value of early detection?
- Hundreds of millions of dollars in damage prevented.
- NASA ACERO stands for?
- Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations.
- ACERO's goal?
- Drone and remote aircraft fire operations around the clock, even at night and in low visibility.
- What is PAMS?
- Portable Airspace Management System, about the size of a carry-on suitcase.
- What is inside a PAMS?
- A computer for airspace management, a radio and an ADS-B traffic receiver.
- How do PAMS units talk without internet?
- A drone flies as an airborne radio relay.
- When and where was PAMS validated in the field?
- March 17 to 26, 2025, Sierra de Salinas foothills, Monterey County, California.
- First optionally piloted aircraft to work with PAMS?
- A Joby Aviation aircraft that shared location and flight intent.
- Which fire agency watched and gave feedback?
- CAL FIRE chiefs.
- NASA FireSense spring 2025 campaign?
- Two phases, March 17-28 and April 12-20, over southeastern US fires and prescribed burns.
Official sources
NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)
Wildland Fire Data Portal
NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
NASA tests wildland fire technology (ACERO, January 31, 2025)
NASA Earth Science Division, FireSense project
FireSense airborne campaigns
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