FireSense project monitored controlled burn in Georgia to aid wildfire management
NBC News has reported that a NASA wildfire research project called FireSense may be at risk due to potential federal budget cuts in the United States.
The project recently monitored a 700-acre prescribed burn at Fort Stewart Army base in Georgia using airborne instruments to collect data on fire behaviour and intensity.
The burn was carried out under controlled conditions to clear vegetation and study fire dynamics, helping scientists understand how wildfires spread and how they might be better managed.
NASA’s advanced technology used for real-time wildfire data collection
According to NBC News, FireSense applies technology developed for space missions to wildfire monitoring.
At Fort Stewart, researchers used an airborne infrared instrument known as AVIRIS-3 to map the fire’s spread, temperature and behaviour.
NASA said the project aims to provide wildland fire managers with field-ready tools to improve fire response and prevention efforts.
NASA FireSense Project Scientist Jacquelyn Shuman said: “The goal is to take our innovative technology, go into the field with wildland fire managers and actually transfer that innovative technology so that they can use it on a wildland fire.”
Former firefighter says fire science must be a tool in addressing the crisis
The programme’s team includes former wildland firefighters, such as FireSense Project Coordinator Harrison Raine.
Raine told NBC News: “We’re trying to combine all aspects of the fire life cycle and using science to understand what is happening and what we can do about it.”
Raine added: “This is a deep personal issue for me. I’m from Los Angeles. I’ve seen kind of the devastation and really trying to tackle this huge problem. And it takes every tool that we have, and science is a big one.”
Raine previously worked as a member of a hotshot crew dispatched to wildfires across the country, including in Idaho, Montana and California.
Budget proposal raises questions about future of NASA Earth science projects
NBC News reported that the White House is preparing a budget proposal that may include deep cuts to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, which oversees Earth-focused research like FireSense.
Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said: “No funding decisions have been finalized.”
NASA declined to comment and referred budget queries to the Office of Management and Budget.
Michael Wara, a senior research scholar at Stanford University, stated: “FireSense was born because NASA said: Wildfires are a big and emerging problem, and we’re going to invest and we’re going to use our skill set to help the rest of the government do its job better.”
Wara added: “There’s no question that our level of information about fire and fire risk has improved with FireSense. It would be a shame to lose it, because it would be very hard to get back.”
Congressman George Whitesides of California also told NBC News: “Cuts to crucial wildfire programmes like Firesense put communities like mine — which are just beginning to rebuild after the devastating Southern California fires — at extreme risk.”
NASA wildfire research faces uncertainty amid proposed US budget cuts: Summary
NBC News has reported that the FireSense project collecting wildfire data using NASA airborne technology is at risk.
The project recently studied a prescribed burn at Fort Stewart Army base in Georgia.
The burn was part of efforts to understand fire spread, temperature and behaviour.
FireSense uses AVIRIS-3 infrared sensors to map fire movement and provide insights for fire managers.
The data aims to support real-time wildfire response and inform vegetation management strategies.
The project involves collaboration with local, state and federal fire agencies.
Former firefighters working with FireSense have said science must be part of the fire response.
NBC News reported that proposed budget cuts could impact NASA’s Earth science programmes.
NASA declined to comment on the potential funding changes.
A White House spokesperson said no decisions have been finalised.
Experts including Stanford University’s Michael Wara said losing FireSense would reduce wildfire data availability.
Representative George Whitesides warned that programme cuts would place fire-prone communities at higher risk.