I’d like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Rejean Bourgault from AWS for prominently featuring exci’s groundbreaking AI-powered early wildfire detection system in his enlightening article titled ‘How AI and drones fight wildfires around the world’. It’s truly an honour to see our technology recognised on a global platform for its contribution to mitigating the social, environmental, and economic impact of wildfires.
The article discusses the role of technology in averting future disasters, specifically focusing on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and internet-of-things (IoT) that can help to prevent, detect, and fight wildfire disasters.
Rising Bushfire Risks: From La Nina to a hot dry El Niño
Bushfires are an intrinsic part of Australia’s environment. However, the dynamic has shifted due to the escalating impact of climate change. 2023 is predicted to become a horror bushfire season. Three years of La Nina conditions brought a lot of rain and increased the biofuel. While forests are currently still moist, the grasses will dry out and quickly become the perfect condition for widespread bushfires. The resurgence of El Niño, a climate pattern associated with hotter and drier conditions, will speed up this process.
AI-powered Wildfire/Bushfire Detection: Every Minute Counts
As the risks of wildfires driven by climate change continue to rise, novel and advanced technologies have emerged for monitoring and detecting fires as soon as they ignite.
exci, an Australian company, employs the power of advanced AI (deep machine learning algorithms) to swiftly identify bushfires in minutes after they ignite. exci’s innovative early wildfire detection system gathers data from ground-based cameras and satellites. A sophisticated AI processes and analyses this data for signatures of fires, such as smoke and heat. Once a fire is identified, the system promptly alerts first responders or property owners. Remarkably, this system excels in detecting even small fires within minutes, boasting an impressively low rate of false positives.
During the 2021 Californian fire season, exci successfully processed a staggering data of over 1 billion images from 1,000 cameras and more than 500,000 satellite data. This intricate system monitored 130 million acres across North America, extending from Mexico to Canada. Within this period, the system identified 8,672 fires, of which 66% were detected within a minute, 95% within just 5 minutes, and nearly 100% within 10 minutes, with near-zero rate false positives.
In Australia, exci’s system monitors an expansive network that spans nearly 25 million acres, extending from Victoria to Northern Queensland. As of October 2023, since the inception of our system, we have successfully detected an astonishing 121,000 fires and counting. Impressively, the average detection time has been refined to approximately one minute, reflecting a significant advancement in the system’s efficiency and accuracy.
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