Artificial intelligence paired with space-derived data could soon join the battle against bushfires in NSW and nationally, speeding up detection and response times to prevent a repeat of Australia\u2019s recent catastrophic season.
\nDeputy Premier and Minister responsible for Disaster Recovery John Barilaro said the NSW Government is working with the best minds in science from across the globe as part of the 2020 Bushfire Data Quest which will help predict future bushfire activity.
\n\u201cThere is no doubt the recent fires have left both a physical mark on our state\u2019s landscape, and emotional one on its people,\u201d Mr Barilaro said.
\n\u201cPredicting the behaviour of bushfires is a hugely difficult problem, made more complicated by a myriad of factors such as fuel load, atmospheric conditions, soil moisture, and availability of water.
\n\u201cUsing data from satellites is a great advancement on the tools we have traditionally used with much of the task of planning on-the-ground bushfire response relying on the experience and instincts of fire-fighters – who are often volunteers.
\n\u201cWe are investigating further how we use the data from multiple satellites and local sensor networks to create algorithms that will help detect fires earlier, predict fire behaviour, and help emergency services respond more effectively to protect homes, people and nature.
\nMinister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres\u00a0said NSW was supporting Australia\u2019s high-tech research, including in the fight against bushfires.
\n\u201cThe 2020 Bushfire Data Quest brings together a range of players in the innovation eco-system, including universities, research institutes, philanthropy and technology companies.
\n\u201cIt will tackle problems in new ways that can be difficult to replicate in traditional academic or industrial research settings,\u201d Mr Ayres said.
\n\u201cTeams of machine-learning specialists are working with bushfire researchers and leading data scientists, primed with information from multiple satellites and local sensor networks.
\nData Quest Lead Dr Cormac Purcell welcomed support from the NSW Government for The Bushfire Data Quest.
\n\u201cThe Bushfire Data Quest, made possible by our challenge partner Minderoo Foundation, aims to do great science by connecting brilliant minds to big questions,\u201d Dr Purcell said.
\n\u201cBy drawing on a wide range of experience, skills and viewpoints, the teams will naturally create better outcomes. We harness the best practices from the private, academic and non-profit sector to accelerate research for the benefit of all humanity.\u201d
\nSupport for the 2020 Bushfire Data Quest builds on the NSW Government\u2019s $5 million Space Industry Development Strategy, maximising opportunities for NSW businesses to tap global demand for space technologies, currently estimated at $420\u00a0billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Artificial intelligence paired with space-derived data could soon join the battle against bushfires in NSW and nationally, speeding up detection and response times to prevent a repeat of Australia\u2019s recent catastrophic season. Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Disaster Recovery John Barilaro said the NSW Government is working with the best minds in science from … Continue reading “NEW THINKING AND TECH TO JOIN BUSHFIRE FIGHT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}