Fighting Wild Fires – how can we use satellite data and what can Germany learn from Australian bushfire experiences?

🌐 Language: English

💶 Event free of charge

🎟️ Hosted by: German Australian Business Council

Climate change has seen an increasing number of wild fires. Using satellite data, wild fires can be identified promptly. The webinar will explore experiments carried out in Australia and Europe using data from the German Aerospace’s Firebird Satellite and what we can learn for the future.

Wildfire is a natural part of many landscapes, particularly in Australia, but climate change is altering the conditions in which fires occur. Rising temperatures, declining humidity and more frequent extreme fire weather are increasing the likelihood of severe and difficult-to-control fires. Recent satellite-based research has found that the frequency of the most energetically extreme wildfire events increased approximately 2.2-fold between 2003 and 2023. Looking ahead, the United Nations Environment Programme projects that extreme fires could increase globally by up to 14 per cent by 2030, 30 per cent by 2050 and 50 per cent by 2100. This creates a growing need not only to respond to fires, but to detect them earlier, monitor them continuously and provide timely, actionable information to emergency services and land managers. Satellite Earth observation, advanced sensing, artificial intelligence and high-speed data processing can play an increasingly important role in this challenge. This webinar explores how space-based technologies can support earlier detection, improved situational awareness and better management of fire-prone landscapes.

Speakers: Peter Moar Professor Peter Moar is an electronic engineer, technology strategist and Chair of the National Committee for Space Engineering at Engineers Australia, and an Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University. His career spans space systems, advanced sensing, telecommunications, automotive engineering and international research collaboration, with a particular focus on building technology partnerships between Australia and Germany.