Locate the Most Intense Heat
Our thermal imaging “sees” the most intense areas of the fire from above. Hot spotting data is used to direct the movement of ground crews and resources as well as to identify areas already believed to be extinguished that might still be burning.
“Canada has about 9 percent of the world’s forests,” according to our government. “The total area burned varies widely from year to year, but averages about 2.5 million hectares annually.
Only 3 percent of all wildland fires (7,300 to 7,500) that start each year in Canada grow to more than 200 hectares in area. However, these fires account for 97% of the total area burned across the country.”
Once wildfires are active (in Canada, 225 per year over 200 hectares), we can help manage them by capturing hot spot locations – areas of the fire that are the most intense, from which the fire is most likely to spread. We use hot spot coordinates to map fires’ perimeters as well as areas believed to have been extinguished which might still, in fact, be burning.
