NASA’s FireSense Project conducts airborne observations over
wildland fires and prescription burn areas to evaluate and
test new instrumentation and collect both remotely-sensed
and in situ data that can inform management decisions and
improve fire models. The FireSense project is focused on
four uses-cases to improve wildfire management. These
include the measurement of pre-fire fuels conditions, active
fire dynamics, post fire impacts and threats, as well as air
quality forecasting, each co-developed with identified
wildfire management agency stakeholders. Starting in the
fall of 2023, FireSense will have an annual airborne
component where the project will test and develop improved
capabilities and technologies for transfer to stakeholders.
A larger airborne campaign will take place during year five
of the project (2027-2028) to fully demonstrate the
technology developed during FireSense.
Data from the FireSense campaigns will be stored in a
FireSense data repository
developed by FireSense Implementation Team members at NASA
Langley. The platform supports storage for documents, text
delimited files (csv), geospatial data (point/polygon,
geotiff, netcdf, laz,), as well as providing password
protection on a government system. This is the same data
system that supports other NASA airborne campaigns,
including the FIREX-AQ project.
The FireSense 2025 Airborne Campaign is
ongoing. Current campaign activities are
scheduled for Spring 2025 in the Southeastern
United States, specifically Geneva State
Forest in Alabama and Merritt Island National
Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Details on
campaign activities in Fall 2025 are
forthcoming.
Data from the FireSense campaigns will be
stored in a
FireSense data repository.
Expected data products and potential use will
be listed following the completion of campaign
activities.
During 2024, one aircraft and multiple
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were deployed
and equipped with passive and active remote
sensing instruments to sample vegetation
structure, fire behavior and effects,
atmospheric conditions, and areas affected by
wildland and prescribed fires in the Western
United States.
The aircraft, UAVs, and instruments used were:
Data from the FireSense campaigns will be
stored in a
FireSense data repository.
Expected data products and potential use are
listed. Some additional data products will be
added.
-
Visible and Short-Wave Infrared (VIS-SWIR)
-
Vegetation Composition, Fire Behavior,
Fire Effects
UAV Based Data Collection
-
LiDAR, Meteorological, Infrared Sensors
-
3D Elevation, temperature, atmospheric
pressure, relative humidity, wind speed
and direction
-
Vegetation structure, atmospheric
conditions, and wind profiles
During the fall 2023 deployment, four aircraft
were deployed and equipped with active and
passive airborne remote sensing instruments to
sample vegetation, soil moisture and areas
affected by wildland and prescribed fires in
the western United States.
The aircraft and instruments included were:
Flight details for the 2023 campaign can be
found at the
ESPO FireSense website.
Data from the FireSense campaigns will be
stored in a
FireSense data repository.
Expected data products and potential use are
listed. Some additional data products will be
added.
-
Visible and Short-Wave Infrared (VIS-SWIR)
-
Vegetation Composition, Fire Behavior,
Fire Effects
-
Visible, Mid-Wave Infrared, Thermal
Infrared (VIS-MWIR-TIR)
- Fire Radiative Power
- L-Band Active Radar
-
Estimated moisture in vegetation, fuels
and soil
- L-Band Active & Passive Radar
-
Estimated moisture in fuels and soil
San Jose State University Wildfire Imaging
System (SWIS)
- Visible and Infrared Imagery
- Fire Dynamics, Radiative Power
B-200/C-20A Meteorological and Navigation
data
Field Reports
The 2023 campaign primary observation sites in
the Western U.S. include significant airborne
flights with complementary ground measurements
when possible.
