Google to better track wildfires

LOS ANGELES — Amid an outbreak of recent wildfires in California, Google announced a commitment to spend $13 million to improve satellite imaging to help track and detect wildfires, starting as early as next year.

FireSat, a constellation of more than 50 satellites, will be able to detect wildfires as small as the size of a classroom, about 16 by 16 feet, and the first satellite will launch in early 2025, the media giant announced Monday. Firefighting authorities currently rely on satellite imagery that detects wildfires but only when they reach about the size of a football field, or more than an acre.

“We realized that if we can pair satellites with machine learning and artificial intelligence, it was the perfect platform to generate real-time operational intelligence on fires,” Christopher Van Arsdale, who leads the Google Research Climate & Energy group and is chairman of the Earth Fire Alliance, said in a video announcement.

The initiative is being led by the Earth Fire Alliance, a nonprofit that was launched in May to create FireSat and develop wildfire datasets, with funding from Google and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Satellite images currently might confuse clouds or a smokestack for fires, Van Arsdale said. Using machine learning, a team at Google built a camera that optimized the technology for fire detection.

The constellation of satellites will be able to provide updated satellite imagery to firefighters every 20 minutes to help them put out fires before they become large and destructive.

“In addition to supporting emergency response efforts, FireSat’s data will be used to create a global historical record of fire spread, helping Google and scientists to better model and understand wildfire behavior and spread,” the company said. Google said the project is part of the company’s effort to help communities address the effects of climate change.

California officials already have moved toward using AI to better track wildfires.