4 ms·

I had the same thought, but apparently the resolution is 'only' 1000 meters [1]. Additionally, it revolves the Earth in ~2 days - making early warning kinda ha

I had the same thought, but apparently the resolution is 'only' 1000 meters [1]. Additionally, it revolves the Earth in ~2 days - making early warning kinda hard. As for similar sensor packages - some 'Satellite-Derived Sea Surface Temperatures' [2] are collected hourly and could get around the time issue. Resolution ranges from 1 to 8km. Then there are things up there from the NRO, DoD, etc which likely aren't as friendly with data sharing... [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MODIS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MODIS [2] http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/sst/newSST/GOES_SST.shtml http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/sst/newSST/GOES_SST.shtml

mturmon 13y ago
Its resolution is lower, but OTOH, it is an operational system ;-) http://sensorweb.nasa.gov/new/validationReport/IEEE-SMC-2005-Sensorweb-v04.pdf http://sensorweb.nasa.gov/new/validationReport/IEEE-SMC-2005... (section 4)
- stevenrace 13y ago
  Agreed. I wish the article was more clear what advances the Berkeley folks have come up with. They claim a theoretical 3 meter resolution compared to the 'next-gen' sensor package (VIIRS [1]) at 750 meters. [1] http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/viirs.html http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/viirs.html http://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/science/rpn/SEM/dossiers/2012/seminaires/2012-11-23/Seminar_2012-11-23_Alexander_Trishchenko.pdf http://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/science/rpn/SEM/dossiers/2...
  - 7952 13y ago
    Is the resolution 3m or can they detect a 3m x 3m fire? That kind of resolution seems unlikely from such a high orbit.
    - mturmon 13y ago
      I had the same question. From "Table 1" of the linked article, they have 72m X 72m pixels, and they are trying to detect a 3m X 3m fire (burning at 1100K) within that pixel. To bring up a related matter, it seems like they are not proposing to do the detection on-board (see section 2.2.2, where they talk about a database of past images). If they are not, they have to transfer all the data to ground. The data rate can be very demanding (and the high orbit makes it more so). Accurate pointing will be another issue (high orbit, small pixels). They have a longer way to go than the press release indicates. Notwithstanding all this griping, it's an interesting concept.

mturmon 13y ago

Its resolution is lower, but OTOH, it is an operational system ;-) http://sensorweb.nasa.gov/new/validationReport/IEEE-SMC-2005-Sensorweb-v04.pdf http://sensorweb.nasa.gov/new/validationReport/IEEE-SMC-2005... (section 4)

stevenrace 13y ago
Agreed. I wish the article was more clear what advances the Berkeley folks have come up with. They claim a theoretical 3 meter resolution compared to the 'next-gen' sensor package (VIIRS [1]) at 750 meters. [1] http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/viirs.html http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/viirs.html http://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/science/rpn/SEM/dossiers/2012/seminaires/2012-11-23/Seminar_2012-11-23_Alexander_Trishchenko.pdf http://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/science/rpn/SEM/dossiers/2...
- 7952 13y ago
  Is the resolution 3m or can they detect a 3m x 3m fire? That kind of resolution seems unlikely from such a high orbit.
  - mturmon 13y ago
    I had the same question. From "Table 1" of the linked article, they have 72m X 72m pixels, and they are trying to detect a 3m X 3m fire (burning at 1100K) within that pixel. To bring up a related matter, it seems like they are not proposing to do the detection on-board (see section 2.2.2, where they talk about a database of past images). If they are not, they have to transfer all the data to ground. The data rate can be very demanding (and the high orbit makes it more so). Accurate pointing will be another issue (high orbit, small pixels). They have a longer way to go than the press release indicates. Notwithstanding all this griping, it's an interesting concept.