OzFuel - Pre-fire monitoring of vegetation

By Dr Marta Yebra, Associate Professor Director, ANU-Optus Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence and Dr Nicolas Younes Cardenas, Fenner School of Environment & Society

At any one time there are thousands of satellites orbiting the earth. They have a range of government, military, and civilian applications, including monitoring climatic conditions and environmental events. Bushfires are one of such events.

When it comes to managing bushfires, there’s huge potential for satellites to play an important role.

When bushfires occur, some satellites can capture the heat coming from the flames. However, when this happens it’s already too late; the fire is already burning and lives may be at risk. Other satellites can capture the areas already burnt and show the destruction caused by these events. Yet there are no satellites that show accurate predictive information to help Australian emergency management agencies make decisions on where a fire is most likely to burn.

This is where OzFuel comes in. The Australian National University (ANU)'s Ozfuel mission (ANU) is the first satellite mission designed for pre-fire monitoring of vegetation.

The Australian Space Agency listed national bushfire fuel load monitoring as a priority “mission purpose” for Earth observation; that is, how much vegetation can be burnt, and how easily it can catch fire. The Space Agency recognized the need for satellites built specifically to watch Australia’s fuel conditions from space.

A few months ago, the Federal Government allocated A$1.6 billion over the next 15 years to invest in a National Space Mission for Earth Observation, which will see Australia design, build, and operate four new satellites. With the development of OzFuel well underway, the ANU hopes to play a significant role in the National Space Mission, and hopes some funds will be allocated towards developing satellite capabilities to predict where bushfires are likely to start, and assess their likely severity.

Developed by the ANU Institute for Space (InSpace) – which is made up of scientists and engineers working across a range of fields - the shoe box-sized satellite will enhance Australia-wide bushfire management and prevention, by measuring forest fuel load, vegetation moisture, and other fuel parameters that affect forest flammability. Since eucalypts make up 77% of the nation’s forests, and are highly flammable, OzFuel is specifically tuned to detect changes in the flammability of this group of trees.

Right now, Australia relies on foreign satellites to gather information on forest flammability. These satellites are not designed to assess our unique bush landscape, or to be employed for bushfire management support; with this in mind, the ANU took upon the challenge to develop a bespoke Australian satellite implementation to better understand bushfires and help inform bushfire management.

Two inquiries into the Black Summer fires of 2019/2020 – the national Royal Commission into Natural Disasters

Arrangements and the New South Wales Parliamentary Inquiry – highlighted the need for a continent-wide map of vegetative fuel states.

Information about fuel conditions is crucial for two main reasons. Before the bushfire season begins, this information helps fire authorities decide the best locations and times for prescribed burning to reduce the amount of flammable vegetation in the landscape. And when bushfires occur, information about fuel conditions helps authorities allocate personnel, equipment, and resources.

The Ozfuel mission will measure forest fuel flammability at a continental scale, every six to eight days during the early hours of the afternoon, when vegetation is most stressed and ignites more easily. Images would be taken at a spatial resolution of about 50 metres, which is adequate for bushfire management operations.

Much of the research for this unique satellite mission is being done in Canberra. At the National Arboretum, a research team is using specialized cameras to analyze hyperspectral data from the forest directly. These cameras capture the portions of light that humans can see, and the portions that humans cannot see; far beyond what most cameras are capable of. Researchers collect mammoth amounts of extremely detailed data every time they go to the field, advancing the design of the OzFuel satellite.

The fieldwork needed for this research can’t be rushed. Different ground-based readings are needed over time to account for changing conditions such as the time of year, amount of rainfall, and atmospheric conditions. Even though the evergreen Eucalyptus trees might not change their leaves the way that deciduous trees do, they do experience chemical changes that can show various levels of moisture and oil content. A higher concentration of oils and more dry material can make bushfires hotter, more intense, and burn for longer. The data seen from the camera is recorded and crunched through various algorithms to build a map of where the fuel loads are, which can then be used to make fire management decisions.

Apart from informing the design of the OzFuel satellite, the spectral data collected in the field has a range of other uses. Scientists can use the information to simulate how different forests will react to a changing climate, or to see how different eucalypt species respond to fire weather conditions. With eucalyptus grown in Europe and the Americas as a commercial timber, this research can also be used by growers to make decisions about their crops.

The images collected for this research may also help advance other industries. For example, hyperspectral imaging can be used in forest management, agriculture, carbon sequestration monitoring, and more, to monitor plant health and growth cycles across crops and ecosystems. Hyperspectral imagery is being increasingly used to monitor a range of natural resources and for the identification of plant species.

Our vision for the OzFuel mission begins with a demonstrator mission comprising of one pathfinder satellite launched into orbit and sending information back to earth. At a later stage, a group of satellites will provide near-realtime analysis of fuel conditions across Australia, informing bushfire management activities and supplying information to other industries and users.

This is an ambitious program that requires significant contributions from industry and government, but it must be considered as an investment into protection against catastrophic bushfires. Research suggests bushfires will cost the Australian economy up to A$1.1 billion per year over the next 50 years, but OzFuel is being designed to help reduce this figure significantly.

Australia needs more effective prediction, prevention and mitigation strategies to prevent a repeat of Black Summer – and a space mission designed to monitor Australia’s highly flammable landscape is a critical part of our national response.

About the Author Dr Marta Yebra is a Senior Lecturer in Environment and Engineering at the Fenner School of Environment & Society and Research School of Engineering, Mission Specialist of the ANU Institute for Space and Director of the ANU-Optus Bushfire Research Centre of excellence. Her research focuses on using remote sensing data to monitor, quantify and forecast natural resources, natural hazards, and landscape function and health at local, regional and global scales.