WildFireSat:

operationalizing of wildfire remote sensing science

Abstract

Early in 2019 the government of Canada provided pan-departmental support for the initiation of the WildFireSat satellite mission, to be launched in or around 2024. The Canadian Forest Service leads the initiative to adapt fire monitoring science to deliver the world's first truly operational dedicated wildfire monitoring satellite mission. WildFireSat is designed to address critical gaps in satellite fire monitoring for Canada's unique geography, and to primarily address the needs of wildfire management. This presentation provides a summary of the system design, alignment with existing systems, tier 1 and 2 data products, and the concept of operations (CONOPS) which will deliver comprehensive situational awareness to Canadian fire managers and decisions-makers in near-real-time, and support smoke forecast services. The intention of the presentation is to initiate discussions with respect to broadening the mission scope to include the international community.