Foundation Projects

Scale-up of DASH: AI/ML and IoT-powered unified system for wildfire prediction, detection and mitigation

Sweet Lime E-Commerce Private Limited

Wildfires pose a significant threat worldwide, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, which suffers from inadequate infrastructure and geographic vulnerabilities. In India, 36% of forest cover is prone to wildfires, and existing detection methods like satellite alerts and watchtower guarding are hindered by slow data transmission. This delay can result in widespread damage, impacting economies, environments and communities. Wildfires not only cause loss to biodiversity but also contribute to significant carbon emissions and socio-economic losses.

The project aims to enhance wildfire management capabilities through DASH, an AI/ML and IoT-powered unified system designed to detect, predict and mitigate wildfires. It utilizes datasets such as satellite imagery, climatic data, land cover type, phenology indices, and IoT technologies like camera imagery and sensor data to provide a multi-modal perspective on wildfires.

This project aims to:

  • Enhance the DASH system through AI/ML for accurate wildfire prediction, and improve detection accuracy by addressing false positives.
  • Expand coverage to larger forest areas and increase community and stakeholder engagement.
  • Integrate with forest department Security Operational Center (SOC).
  • Develop enhanced social reporting tools.
  • Conduct on-ground research for tracking progress. 
  • Create a market-ready product for scalability across geographies.

This project is an Ian Peter Grant for Internet and the Environment.

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