An Integration of Remote Sensing, GIs, and Information Distribution for Wildfire Detection and Management

A disaster mitigation feasibility study, entitled "WILDFIRE," was initiated in 1997. Project WImRE demonstrated the feasibility of integrating civil and commercial communications and information technology to provide operational resources to firefighters attacking wildland fires. The demonstration of various technologies occurred during an actual "controlled" burn in a wildland environment in northern California. Real- time data transfer of thermal line scanner data from an airborne platform via a cellular data phone transmission was accomplished, and near-real-time map integration and development was demonstrated using portable uplink/downlink systems to "move" data and asset information (such as vehicle and personnel locations) to a fire camp and a disaster control center. Vehicle tracking was accomplished with the Global Positioning System [GPS) and radio communications to track both fire equipment and field personnel in real time. We focus on the utility and melding of these "off-the-shelf' and emerging technologies in the context of disaster mitigation and response.