NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is teaming up with San Francisco-based company Quadra Pi R2E to develop a fleet of satellites that can help detect and fight wildfires from space.

The system, called FireStat, will consist of 200 thermal infrared imaging sensors that will be installed on satellites that will be designed to identify and monitor wildfires around the globe in a timely manner. 

FireStat will be able to detect fires that are 35 to 50 feet wide, within an average of 15 minutes from the time they ignite. The FireStat system will then notify emergency responders located near the fire within three minutes so that they can quickly put the fires out. Since wildfires are known to spread quickly, this could prevent devastation across regions.

The satellite system will also be able to transmit low-resolution images of the fire once every minute to provide real-time conditions, along with the latitude and longitude for the exact location of the fire and to further help responders make fast decisions.

"While many wildfires are reported by 9-1-1 calls soon after ignition, some are not, and delays in detection can lead to rapid escalation of a fire, and dramatic growth of the cost of suppression," Robert Staehle, lead designer of FireSat at JPL said in a press release. "The system we envision will work day and night for fires anywhere in the world."

NASA said that the FireStat sensor would complement the fire monitor drone and satellites that are already in place. These include the Terra satellite, which uses a resolution imaging Spectroradiometer to help detect fires, and the Sensor Web Project, which uses sensors and autonomous satellites to study wildfire, volcanoes, flooding and ice thawing and freezing events.

JPL will help design the sensors, which will use aspects of its Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (Aegis) software.

The satellites will begin testing in 2017, and are expected to launch in space by June 2018.

Source: NASA