• Name of My Project

Managing Fire From Space

Improve Fire Identification Mapping and Monitoring Algorithm (FIMMA).

• What research topic/question is my project going to address?

Space technology has been used to improve life on Earth through many applications. One of them is to use Earth observation satellites to detect forest fires and alert local authorities in real time.

NASA has been developing FIMMA algorithm that analyzes data taken from Earth observation satellites to detect possible forest fires.

The FIMMA algorithm has several limitations, which often leads to false-positive results. The research aims to address and find possible solutions to the current limitations and produce a better algorithm.

• What technology will be used in your project?

Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS).

• What software and hardware will be needed for your project?

Data manipulation and graphing tools.

• How are you planning to implement?

Compare the current implementation of FIMMA algorithm with other fire detection algorithms and fire products.

• How is your project different from others? What’s new in your project? 

The algorithm is currently only accurate over forested regions. The algorithm may miss real fires over urban areas, as well as many agricultural burns. A focus of the research is to improve the fire detection accuracy of these regions.

• What’s the difficulties of your project? What problems you might encounter during your project?

The research requires a deep understanding of the algorithm, geology, satellite technology, and data science.

It can be challenging to obtain the most updated progress of the algorithm.