WASHINGTON - NASA selected its Wildfire Climate Tech Challenge winners, awarding three teams $100,000 for their diverse, innovative approaches to address the escalating effects of wildfires and climate change, Sarah Douglas writes for the agency. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
19 March 2024 - After evaluation by a panel of experts, NASA says three winners and three runners-up emerged, each demonstrating exceptional creativity, technical expertise, and a high potential for real-world impact.
Winners include Team Howard U, Team HorizonForce, and Team FLARE. Team Howard U's concept is Fire Smart Health Guardian + Taylor which addresses critical gaps in wildfire risk communication and air quality monitoring by integrating NASA data, empowering communities with accurate information to make informed decisions with Generative AI in Natural Language Processing technology, mitigating risk, and protecting their health.
Team HorizonForce's concept is a Next-Generation Solution for Wildfire Detection, Monitoring, and Elimination. This system integrates a network of low-cost Internet of Things sensors, NASA MODIS and VIIRS satellite imagery, and high-payload Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to detect, accurately localize, monitor, and autonomously extinguish emerging wildfires before they escalate.
Team FLARE's Fuel Load Analysis and Risk Estimation (FLARE) concept is a software suite leveraging Terrestrial Laser Scanning methods and conventional Earth observation technologies to revolutionize wildfire risk assessments at sub-meter resolution.
Runners-up and a rundown of who was involved in these teams are available in the NASA article linked above.
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
