The next tool in Canada's wildfire fight could be eyes in the sky watching around the clock
CTV
A joint initiative from three government agencies aims to monitor wildfires across Canada from space. Here's how they'll do it.
Three government departments are joining together for a new mission that will provide detailed information on wildfires across Canada from far above it.
"WildFireSat" aims to launch satellites into space in 2029 that can accurately monitor all wildfires burning across the country while providing detailed 30-minute updates throughout the day.
It's a partnership between the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Natural Resources Canada (NRC) and Environment and Climate Change (ECC) Canada funded in the 2022 budget for about $169.9 million.
Using infrared sensors, the satellites will be able to measure the energy —known as fire radiative power — emitted by the blazes.
Right now, there are no satellites that can monitor the peak burning period of a fire, which is mid to late afternoon, Miriam Micael, engineering project manager with CSA, said.
WildFireSat aims to change that.
"WildFireSat is actually really looking to close that gap," she told CTVNews.ca in an interview. "By allowing fire managers to receive the data within 30 minutes, put it into the algorithms and really spit out these fire data products, they're actually going to be better equipped and prepared."
