Sanborn acquired Space Imaging's Solutions business unit
on March 1, 2005.
Space Imaging Chosen to Conduct Wildland
Fire Risk Analysis for 13 Southern States
Southern Group of State Foresters Selects
Space Imaging Solutions for the Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment
Project
DENVER, Aug. 14, 2003 – Space Imaging’s Wildland Fire
Risk Assessment System (WFRAS) approach has been selected by the
Southern Group of State Foresters (SGSF) to support on-going fire
management planning and wildland fire risk analysis in each community,
county, congressional district and fire response zone of the organization’s
13 states. The member states are Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia, Texas, Tennessee,
South Carolina, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. The organization also
includes the U.S. Forest Service’s Region 8 Office in Atlanta.
The Texas Forest Service is administering the project on behalf
of SGSF.
Space Imaging’s WFRAS is a proven wildland fire risk assessment
methodology that employs both GIS and remote sensing technologies.
It is a well-defined and repeatable process for describing fuels
and analyzing wildland fire risk to suit any scale of operation,
including wildland and wildland urban interface areas. The wildland
fuels are mapped using 30-meter resolution Landsat ™ imagery
as a baseline. Optionally, high-resolution multi-spectral imagery
from Space Imaging’s IKONOS satellite may be used for mapping
fuels for specific areas of interest. To develop the methodology,
Space Imaging worked with leading fire subject matter experts to
incorporate the best wildland fire science available for fire protection
planning. The Wildland Fire Risk Assessment Model contains calculations
to derive indices of Wildland Fire Susceptibility, Fire Effects,
Fire Response Accessibility and Wildland Fire Risk. This award follows
successful completion of the statewide Florida fire risk assessment
project by Space Imaging.
The contract period is initially for 24 months to conduct the
baseline analysis, beginning in July 2003. Once the Southern Group
of State Foresters Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment project is
completed, each state will be better equipped to communicate wildland
fire risks to the public. Additional years are planned to ensure
proper technology transfer occurs with State representatives.
“The Southern Group of State Foresters is very excited about
the southern wildfire risk assessment, and the benefits it will
provide to the southern states. We look forward to working with
the Space Imaging team on this very important project,” said
Tom Spencer, SWRA Project Manager from the Texas Forest Service.
“The Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment project will give
fire professionals and other stakeholders a dynamic set of tools
for evaluating site-specific fire risks in a consistent manner
across the region, with the ultimate goal of reducing the tremendous
human and property loss caused by wildfire,” said David
Buckley, Director of Wildfire and Forestry Solutions for Space
Imaging.
The press release can be downloaded
by clicking on the following link.
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