NASA has unveiled its ‘Wildfire Digital Twin’ project, a sophisticated tool designed to assist firefighters and wildfire managers in monitoring fires and predicting harmful air pollution events. Current global models for describing wildfire spread and smoke movement typically have a spatial resolution of about 10 kilometers per pixel, according to NASA. However, the Wildfire Digital Twin aims to produce regional ensemble models with a substantially enhanced spatial resolution of 10 to 30 meters per pixel. These two orders of magnitude improvement allow for more accurate and detailed predictions.
These high-resolution models can be generated within minutes, a significant advancement compared to the hours required by current models. NASA's FireSense project aims to use the agency's capabilities to enhance wildfire management across the United States. This initiative focuses on developing innovative observation capabilities for predicting and managing wildfires, including systems like Earth System Digital Twins. NASA notes that the Earth System Digital Twins are dynamic software tools designed for real-time modeling and predicting climate events, utilizing data from various sources to produce ensemble predictions.
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