The Biden-Harris Administration announced today an initiative to enhance early wildfire detection capabilities through satellite technology. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has entered into an agreement with the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Forest Service to utilize data from NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — R series (GOES-R). This collaboration, backed by a $20 million investment from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, aims to improve the speed and accuracy of wildfire detection.
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is providing essential resources to communities nationwide. This includes deploying innovative tools for wildfire management, enhancing land resilience against wildfires, and supporting federal wildland firefighters. The law allocates $5 billion over five years for preparedness, fuels management, post-fire restoration, and fire science.
“Now more than ever, the impacts of climate change are increasing the threat of wildfires across the country and thanks to President Biden’s commitment to investing in America, NOAA has been able to significantly improve fire weather forecasts to keep communities safe,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This new partnership, a result of the most ambitious climate agenda in history, will help expand our ability to detect wildfires, improve response times, and keep families in western communities out of harm’s way.”
“This collaborative effort demonstrates how the federal government is deploying resources from President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda to improve its emergency response capabilities and address increasingly frequent and extreme climate-driven wildfires,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “By using expanded satellite capacity to pinpoint wildfire ignitions and provide real-time data for wildfire managers, this partnership with NOAA will enable the Interior and Agriculture Departments to respond to wildfires more rapidly and make informed decisions for firefighting operations and public safety.”
“This partnership is one of the many ways we are investing in technology to improve firefighter and community safety,” commented Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “Wildland firefighting will always require highly skilled individuals working on the ground, but with more real-time information we can reduce risks to crews and pilots while improving our response time reducing risk to impacted communities.”
The use of NOAA’s GOES-R satellite data allows for early wildfire detection by providing detailed insights into wildfire conditions. These satellites can often identify fires before they are visible on land or reported via emergency services. Additionally, they assist in pinpointing fire locations after smoke reports occur.
GOES-R satellite observations also play a crucial role in monitoring smoke from wildfires. This capability aids aerial firefighting efforts by providing real-time information on smoke plume locations and movements. Such data is vital for directing aircraft during suppression activities hindered by poor visibility due to smoke.
Today's announcement aligns with recommendations made by the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission established under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In September 2023, this Commission released a report containing 148 recommendations aimed at improving federal policies related to wildfire mitigation, suppression, and management.
